16 year-old Amanda is editor for her school newspaper; a member of Girlguiding Advocate Panel and spokesperson for Girlguiding Scotland; and a member of Young Scot Health Panel.

From an early age, she has been keen on speaking out about social issues. In 2017 she won the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) competition, writing about problems concerning food waste in Scotland and potential solutions. She has been a writer for her school’s student magazine, The Galley, ever since she joined the school, and became one of the editors in August 2019. Through her writing, she has raised awareness to a whole range of different issues, from the lack of women in STEM to the harms of fast fashion. Amanda spends a lot of time championing youth social action. After being a Year of Young People 2018 ambassador, where she had the opportunity to promote youth social action during numerous events across Scotland, she was inspired to do more to help improve young people’s lives. Right now, she is a member of the Girlguiding Advocate Panel, a panel of 18 young women in the UK aged 14-25 who speak out on issues that matter to girls and young women across the country. She is also a spokesperson for Girlguiding Scotland, and most recently she became a member of the YSHealth Panel, a youth-led panel who focus on health and wellbeing issues concerning young people in Scotland.

You can find her on Twitter @amandaamaeshi and find more of her work here.