Community Impact Network awardee spotlight: Amanda Mitchell
Direct service providers are better when they work together, the 2023 Teamwork Award recipient says
When she started working at The Core Collective in 2018 (which was then known as St. Vincent Home for Children), Amanda Mitchell wanted to get firsthand experience about how investing in youth can transform a community.
Mitchell could quote studies and rattle off statistics, but she wanted to see the transformative power of youth investment with her own eyes. Since 2018, she’s gotten that experience through working in various roles with The Core Collective. One of the many lessons she’s learned: direct service providers and their organizations are better when they work collaboratively.
“We like to say that many hands make for light work, but the work is never light,” Mitchell said. “But without the team, the work would not be possible. It wouldn’t be able to be done. Only together and collaboratively can we create great things and do great things for our community.”
That attitude earned Mitchell the Teamwork Award at the Community Impact Network’s annual A Night With the Stars awards celebration in December 2023. Mitchell, who serves as the Community Liaison Coordinator for The Core Collective, said the award is more of a testament to the service providers and volunteers she’s worked with over the years.
The Core Collective, which is a Community Impact Network member organization, has the mission of making well-being the standard in St. Louis. They improve health care for families, advance socioeconomic equity and activate conscious leaders. Mitchell said teamwork is integral to those goals.
“Only together are we able to raise that standard and make well-being the standard for St. Louis,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell has worked as Youth Development Specialist, Youth Leadership Specialist and Program Manager of Innovation and Recreation, and in her new role she’s able to help The Core Collective expand its programs and services through talking with community partners and collaborating.
“Now I get to focus on that more and it’s really exciting because it’s something I really love doing, and hearing different perspectives and what people can offer and how we can collaborate and work together,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell has helped The Core Collective expand its street outreach program and search for long-term housing solutions such as scattered-site housing. She has also pushed to expand the organization’s community-based services after identifying that need from listening to those in the community.
We like to say that many hands make for light work, but the work is never light. But without the team, the work would not be possible.
Amanda Mitchell
The Core Collective
The Core Collective is located in the heart of the 24:1, an area of North St. Louis County where 22 municipalities (formerly 24) work together to support one another. The whole community is built on teamwork, Mitchell pointed out.
“I love the 24:1,” Mitchell said. “I think it symbolizes what it should look like to invest in community. I think other people could take note of what it looks like when people come together.”
Read more about the work that The Core Collective is doing on the organization’s website.
Nominations are currently open for this year’s A Night With the Stars awards celebration. If you know someone who is making a difference in the 24:1 area, you can nominate them here.
