Amanda Elliott

She previously served as Senior Program Officer and Director of California Programs at MSA for five years. In this position, she delivered comprehensive commercial district revitalization technical services to partner communities, coordinated programs across the country, and directed California Main Street.

She is also the former Executive Director of the Richmond Main Street Initiative in Richmond, California, where she managed and supervised the organization’s activities, operations, and services, developed strategies for enhancing the downtown economy, established working relationships with the community, city, and county government, and maintained ongoing collaborative relationships with community agencies.

She was responsible for producing large-scale community arts and entertainment events and worked with the Main Street board and staff to cultivate relationships with foundations, corporations, and individual donors and sponsors. In 2012, she worked with key stakeholders to develop an outreach strategy to implement the first and only Property Business Improvement District in the City of Richmond and West Contra Costa County, which was renewed in 2017 and has leveraged over $200 million in public and private investments providing sustained funding for the organization through 2022. Amanda is proud of her collaboration with partners to fill a long-standing vacancy at the Richmond BART garage on Macdonald Avenue with a new co-working business incubator, coffee shop, and restaurant.”

She has worked for several non-profit organizations, including the Maynard Institute for Journalism Training and the University of California, Berkeley Department of Dramatic Art. Amanda also worked as a program assistant at KQED (TV) and KOFY/TV20. She completed a news internship at KPFA public radio in Berkeley and worked as a volunteer reporter and co-host of a public affairs program.

Amanda is the recipient of community service awards from the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Black American Political Action Committee, and Full Vision Arts Foundation. She is a former Economic Development Commissioner for the City of Richmond and a former board member of the Community Housing Development Corporation and the California Main Street. She also served on the steering committee for the California Endowment Building Healthy Communities 10-year Initiative. Amanda has two adult daughters and two grandchildren. She is a singer and songwriter who occasionally can be found singing at Bay Area events with her husband, educator, pianist, and songwriter Terence Elliott.