Amanda Zimmerman: Focused on our values

I’m running for Select Board to make sure families can afford to stay in Brookline. I chose to raise my family in Brookline because of the strong public schools, outstanding Town services, walkable and transit-accessible neighborhoods, and thriving local economy, not to mention our welcoming and diverse community. In my five years serving as an elected Town Meeting Member and six years running a Brookline-based civic organization, I’ve seen our challenges of housing affordability, safe streets for all residents, fiscal deficits, and climate change continue to grow in scale and intensity. I am excited to play an even bigger role in tackling these issues.

I’m running for Select Board because I have the vision and values to address our challenges in a way that respects all members of our community. 

Homes are too expensive for growing families and young professionals, and seniors can’t find homes where they can downsize while remaining in their communities. Our streets are becoming increasingly unsafe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and individuals with mobility issues. Yet we lack sufficient revenue to maintain funding for our strong public schools and Town services, let alone address the roadway maintenance backlog. This is due to state limits on the amount we can bring in via taxes for the town, and decades of inaction on commercial and residential development along our major corridors. All the while, we’ve also slowed down our efforts to address climate change even as the threat to our planet intensifies. These issues require action, not endless conversations, and we need town-wide leaders who don’t just make plans, but make progress.

My vision for Brookline is for a place where we have homes to meet residents’ needs at all stages of their lives; safe streets for all, whether you walk, bike, or drive; strong schools, services, and local businesses; and a climate plan that is the envy of New England.

This vision reflects my values: community, accessibility, inclusivity, sustainability, diversity, and a deep respect for data. I live those values: you’ll see them reflected in my voting record in Town Meeting, in my work as a civic leader in our community, in my career in biotech, and as a parent in the Brookline school system. 

About Amanda

I have a Ph.D. in bioengineering, postdoctoral training in neuroscience, and I work in program management and strategy in biotech. Just over six years ago, I co-founded Brookline for Everyone, a grassroots pro-housing group in town. I first ran for Town Meeting in 2020 and have been on the Open Space and Recreation Planning Committee and the Bicycle Advisory Committee. I am also a cargo-bike parent. Most of our trips within Brookline are by bike – our kids’ preferred means of transportation. Combined with my professional work with the spinal cord injury community, I am deeply dedicated to the accessibility of our public ways and buildings and the safety of all users, whether on foot, on a bike, in a power wheelchair, or in a car. 

You may also know me from my community volunteer work. I’ve coached the Pierce third-grade co-ed soccer team and a sixth-grade all-girls Lego Robotics team, each for the past 3 years. I serve as co-steerer for Minyan Shaleym, a small Jewish congregation that meets in Brookline, and I have served on a personnel search committee at Congregation Kehillat Israel. In my free time I enjoy playing on and captaining the Pierce parent soccer team.