Highly motivated and driven, Amanda Lucas has worked in the higher education and non-profit world for more than seven years. She is a Piney Woods and Berea College alumnus. At Berea College, she received a Bachelor’s degree in African and African American History. After Berea College, Amanda graduated from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) with a master's degree in human services and higher education student personnel services. She was hired as an adjunct professor at age 23 after serving as a graduate assistant for EKU’s criminal justice program but declined to teach global education at her esteemed alma mater The Piney Woods School.

Amanda has been featured in over 11 publications and written 12 articles for publications such as Town & Gown magazine, The GRIOT, and Reader's Digest. Her recently published book It’s Not Me, It’s Graduate School: Surviving Graduate School the Sassy Way speaks to a generation of ambitious women who are caught in the depth of their academic careers and life goals. It gives renewed aspirations to the uninspired female student with clear objectives of excellence. Like bell hooks, her commitment to engaged pedagogy is an expression of her political activism. She is a published writer, womanist, avid researcher, active alum, and mother of one.