Background:

Amata Small is the senior director of operations with Bellwether, leading the strategy and implementation of the organization’s internal systems, data, knowledge sharing, and technology. Before joining Bellwether in 2015, Amata worked as an independent consultant, supporting education nonprofits with their use and optimization of Salesforce. Prior to consulting, Amata worked for Education Pioneers, a nonprofit focused on recruiting and developing education leaders beyond the classroom to advance K-12 education. As the systems and data manager for its alumni team, Amata designed systems to support the network of more than 3,000 education leaders; led the development, completion campaign, and analysis of the annual alumni survey; and served as the organization lead on a collaboration with The Broad Center and Harvard’s Strategic Data Project to redesign a networking platform for the three organizations’ current and former members. She also spent a year serving in AmeriCorps, where she worked on hurricane recovery projects in the aftermath of Katrina.

Amata holds a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology and education from the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated with highest distinction.

Why I do this work:

My mother’s teaching career afforded me the privilege of attending schools that would have been otherwise unavailable to me. In addition to providing me with excellent educational opportunities, she demonstrated an unwavering core value of public service that has guided my career and instilled in me the drive to ensure that all children, regardless of circumstance, have access to quality education.