Meet Amaad
| Background | Endorsements | Publications | Television | Radio | Other Media |
CITY COUNCILOR RIVERA'S BACKGROUND
Amaad was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. He has spent his life personally and professionally working with others to create better opportunities for himself, his family and his community.
Raised by a teenage mother whose hard work and determination helped his family rise from poverty and homelessness, Amaad learned that strong beliefs are worth fighting for. While Springfield is the City of Homes, Amaad grew up homeless. With the support of his family and community worked to overcome these obstacles.
As a teenager he began writing for the Springfield Union News’s Unlisted. Amaad was a student in the first fully matriculated class of the High School of Science and Technology, where he played football, participated in a theatre group, and became a captain of the wrestling team.
Upon graduation, Amaad attended BentleyUniversity. Working himself through college, Amaad graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with minors in Psychology and Information Technology.
While at Bentley, Amaad continued creating opportunities for positive change by fighting for a strong democracy, civic participation, and addressing inequality.
After graduating from Bentley, Amaad completed a year of service with AmeriCorps with the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship, where he developed civic engagement initiatives for young people in the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts. While serving in AmeriCorps, Amaad founded the KidsVote initiative, engaging over 2,200 young people, aged 18 and under, in the voting process in its first year.
Amaad directed the YouthBridge AmeriCorps program at Solutions Community Development Corporation in Holyoke, Ma. Under his direction, this program created some of the most innovative practices in the state including increasing doubling the education scholarship through local programs.Amaad later went on to serve as an AmeriCorps Program Officer for the Massachusetts Service Alliance. At the Massachusetts Service Alliance, Amaad managed an 11 million dollar portfolio of grants to organizations dedicated to closing the achievement gap is schools, ensuring access to quality health care for all, protecting the environment, and promoting community and civic engagement. In addition, he acted as the liaison between the federal and state government to service programs all over Massachusetts. While working, Amaad went to graduate school at University of Massachusetts, Amherst he studied
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Amaad then lead the National Racial Wealth Divide Program at United for a Fair Economy. In this position, Amaad works with policy makers and organizations to implement policies that ensure that economic prosperity reaches everyone. He publishes research reports and presents on economic disparities across the country. While Director Amaad authored of “The Silent Depression: State of the Dream 2009” and “Foreclosed: State of the Dream 2008.” His articles and publications have been featured in major media outlets including The Washington Post, The Nation, Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, Democracy Now, Too Much, BET.com, CSPAN, Boston Neighborhood Network News, and numerous local radio stations.
Most recently, Amaad served as the Director of the Massachusetts Alliance of Predatory Lending, where he worked to pass the historic statewide Housing Omnibus Bill that reduced foreclosure, extended protections for tenants and gave greater rights for people who were victims of predatory lending.
Amaad has served on numerous boards and community initiatives including the Racial Imbalance committee advising the Department of Education and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educators Network (GLSEN). He organized the most recent LGBT Pride this year and was named one of the national Advocate’s 40 under 40.
Amaad’s life experiences, both personal and professional, have taught him that the toughest obstacles can be overcome by working together as a community to bring about positive long lasting change.
As Springfield continues to face economic and social challenges ranging from foreclosures to crime, we need elected officials who will face these challenges head on, and use them as opportunities for innovation and creativity to solve our problems.Amaad has spent his entire life seeing opportunities for advancement in the midst of difficult situations. As our city councilor, Amaad will help us face Springfield’s challenges and find new opportunities to improve our city and our community.
2009 CAMPAIGN
| Victory Fund | 1199SEIU | GALLAN |
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| Pioneer Valley Young Democrats | New England Regional Council of Carpenters Local 108 | |
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| UAW local 2322 | ¿Oíste? | Sierra Club, Massachusetts chapter |
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| Pioneer Valley Labor Council |
SEIU Local 508 | Point of View Newspaper |
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CITY COUNCILOR RIVERA'S PRINTED
| State of the Dream 2009 |
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 (Featured on p.36) |
CITY COUNCILOR RIVERA'S
TELEVISION
| "Home Foreclosures and Minorities" | "Economics and Diversity" |
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| Political Chowder Ep. #69 | |
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RADIO AND OTHER NEWS MEDIA LINKS