Amber's Plan
for District 13
Amber has worked in education at every level in Tennessee. She has been a classroom teacher in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, an advisor to the County Mayor’s education office, and a senior director with the Tennessee Department of Education. She has operations, fundraising, budgeting, and policy experience, including managing more than $13 billion in total funding for the Illinois Governor's Office of Management and Budget under Pat Quinn. Outside of education, Amber has Director of Business Development for Lemonada Media and is the owner of Amber Huett-Garcia Consulting. She frequently consults with patient organizations and pharmaceutical companies on obesity care from research and development to marketing input.
Amber has shown courageous, principled leadership on the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board for the last four years. As County Commissioner, Amber will continue to be a champion for children, educators, and families who need their board and district leaders to collaborate and innovate to increase success rates across all school districts.
Amber has a bachelor's degree in political science and journalism from Bradley University and Master's in Public Administration from the University of Illinois, Springfield.
She will fight for equity for all residents of Shelby County.
1
People Centered Economic Focus
A Solvable Challenge - Invest in people to increase their wages, contribute to Shelby County's economy, and take care of their families.
People-first economic growth uplifts everyone:
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Infrastructure: Plan, build, and repurpose so Shelby County increases tax collection while neighborhoods get their needs met.
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Accelerate business growth and stabilize neighborhoods through resource alignment.
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Create plans with the City of Memphis and Memphis-Shelby County Schools on what, where, and how we build to prioritize efficient land use. When you stabilize families, you stabilize neighborhoods.
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Public/private partnerships
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Workforce training for adults and young people lead to career pathways and attract and fill high-wage jobs.
2
Improving Public Safety Through Public Health
Public Safety is a Public Health Issue.
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Improve access to healthcare and strengthen public health
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Partnership with local law enforcement to keep violent offenders off of the streets
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Recognizing crime as a lack of opportunity
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Non-violent offenders back to daily life to care for their families
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Address the root causes of crime within our communities
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Improve and increase access to primary care, address chronic disease and focus on mental health conditions
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Long-term affordable housing and coordinated human services.
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3
Help Families Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
Strengthen families from Pre-K through Adulthood Education.
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Increase access to high-quality, affordable childcare and Pre-K
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Stronger outcomes in measures such as kindergarten readiness, literacy rates, and high school diploma/GED attainment.
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Accountability for Public Schools
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Oversight that's responsive to the current state-level forensic audit to improve systems, transparency, and efficient use of tax dollars.
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Ensuring all systems are maximizing TISA bonus outcomes to supplement Shelby County's funding.
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Increase awareness and delivery of community services
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Shelby County has over 100k adults without a high school diploma and 45k young people 16-24 who are not working or in school.
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Accelerate job training, rapid skill development to strengthen our workforce, and increase family wealth/income.
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