Amanda Farías is the Council Member for the 18th District, representing the neighborhoods of Castle Hill, Clason Point, Harding Park, Parkchester, Unionport, Shorehaven, and Soundview.
Council Member Amanda Farías is the Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and the Co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus. She is the first women, Bronxite, and Latinx person to serve as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development. As Chair, she hosted the City’s first legislative hearings on the emerging adult-use cannabis industry, the NYC ferry system, and has worked to ensure that economic recovery is focused on equity and prioritizes our Black and Brown communities.
Under Council Member Amanda Farias’ leadership as Co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus, in the first women-majority Council, several comprehensive bill packages have been passed addressing issues of women’s health and wellness. Including the Support Survivors package, the Universal Childcare package, and the groundbreaking NYC Abortion Rights Act. She continues to work to create holistic improvements to qualities of life of women, trans women, and gender non-conforming people across the City.
Amanda is a lifelong Bronxite, born and raised in Soundview as a second-generation Afro-Latina of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent. She is a proud product of local schools and community institutions. Growing up she attended P.S. 69X and the Holy Cross School, and spent after-school hours and summers at the local Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. She is a graduate of Preston High School and St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics and Master of Arts in Public Administration, where her passion for community service, activism, and empowerment began.
Council Member Farías’ extensive experience includes working for the New York City Council from 2013 to 2017 in several different capacities, including Director of Special Projects, managing the Women’s Caucus and a districtwide Participatory Budgeting process. After her time in the Council, Amanda joined The Consortium for Worker Education as an Assistant Director in 2017 to manage workforce development programming in the Bronx. Amanda’s programming and partnerships with CUNY, labor unions, and local community-based organizations have allowed her to create new opportunities for young Bronxites to access upward economic mobility. During this time she also served as the New York State Coordinator for New American Leaders and as the Co-Founder of Women of Color for Progress. Through her work with these organizations, Amanda created a pipeline for more women to be elected to office through increased civic engagement and opportunities in electoral politics.
During the height of the pandemic Amanda became active in mutual aid and feels most in her element when in community. Hosting food distributions for neighbors has been at the core of her service to continue the fight against food insecurity and The Bronx being the unhealthiest county in New York State. She was elected as the Council Member of the 18th district in 2021.
Council Member Farías has been recognized by City and State’s “Power 100: Women,” “Power 100: Economic Development”, “Power 100: The Bronx”, and PoliticsNY “Power Players Rising.”