Amanda studied in the UK, obtaining her undergraduate degree in sociology & social work. While working for the National Health Service on harm reduction pilot programs, she went back for her Master’s degree in addiction and mental health. Amanda has worked in a multitude of substance use settings, including working within community-based mutual aid programs, jails, hospitals, inpatient and outpatient treatment, capacity building, and technical assistance for agencies, working on policy, and conducting ethnography for research projects related to substance use, which has produced over fifteen published papers.