Amanda Slichter (she/her/hers) is a proud, bisexual feminist currently serving as an Assistant Director of Residence Life at Kutztown University. In this role, Amanda oversees the department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, as well as all marketing initiatives and Special Interest Housing communities. Serving the university in this capacity has created avenues for Amanda to cultivate her most passionate commitment— social justice education and advocacy, particularly around gender, sexuality, and anti-racism work.

As an experienced speaker and training specialist, Amanda Slichter created Speaking Alongside to live out her personal mission of dismantling oppressive systems on internal, interpersonal, and institutional levels. Centering the voices of the most marginalized, Amanda advocates by following the lead of communities who have been disempowered— hence the namesake of Speaking Alongside. She partners with clients to formulate every training, presentation, and consultation with tailored learning outcomes and intentional, skills-based content. Clients can expect high energy, responsiveness, and an unapologetic call to action.
 
Prior to starting at Kutztown University, Amanda was an Assistant Director in the Office of Residence Life at Lehigh University from 2015-2019. This experience allowed Amanda to grow tremendously in the areas of student development theory, intentional programming strategies, and best assessment practices. In 2016, Amanda’s most formative professional experience began when she started her collateral assignment as the Training & Education Coordinator for the Lehigh University Pride Center for three years. Amanda’s focus in this role was to work with the Director to create LUally, the University's home-grown, tailored version of Safe Space training. The final product resulted in 13 customized, skills-based training sessions that center ongoing learning about a wide variety of genders, sexualities, and their various intersections. This work has been presented at international levels, including the NASPA Annual Conference, the Annual International Forum on Student Affairs in Monterrey, Mexico, and the NASPA Multicultural Institute. The LUally model for LGBTQIAP+ education also resulted in a Spot Bonus Award for Extraordinary Achievement from the President of Lehigh University, as well as the honor of receiving the New Professional Award from NASPA’s Gender & Sexuality Knowledge Community and the Val DuMontier New Professional Award form ACPA’s Coalition for Sexuality and Gender Identity.
 
Throughout her career, Amanda has also been highly involved with the Mid-Atlantic Association of College and University Housing Officers (MACUHO). She served as the Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee from 2017-2019, revamping the Social Justice Justice Symposium, managing the monthly blog, and creating identity-based Affinity Groups for members to have supportive spaces. She was awarded first place in MACUHO’s Case Study Competition in 2015, two Top Ten Program Awards in 2016 and 2021, and Region’s Best Program in both 2020 and 2021. She was also honored with the region’s Commitment to Social Justice Award in 2020 and elected to the Executive Board as Director of Technology Initiatives from 2020-2022. Amanda has also represented MACUHO by presenting I Hope You Don’t Call Yourself an Ally as part of a webinar series for The Association of College and University Housing Officers (ACUHO-I). As a final contribution to MACUHO, Amanda founded the MACUHO White Accountability Group, which works to dismantle the anti-Blackness that lives in herself and her fellow white colleagues.

Outside of her university work and speaking engagements across the country, Amanda devotes her time to her partner and their two fierce, beautiful daughters.