Local director who champions grassroots action named Bold Woman of the Month

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — March’s Bold Woman of the Month believes in standing up for individuals in need and expanding your horizons. 

The executive director of the Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society Amanda Trotter moved to the city in 2015, bringing a passion for media, development and advocacy to the organization. 

Starting in the media, the South African-born advocate said her heart lies in developing connections through community outreach, gender equality and advocacy, a field she began exploring while working at a branch of the Sowetan newspaper. 

“I got involved when I was running the Sowetan in developing community radio, and that was fantastic,” Trotter said.

“It was right at the beginning of community radio, and helping those stations develop content was absolutely amazing work.

“My interest has always been in media and development, so where they cross over I’m as happy as Larry.”

She said she has always been inspired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangarĩ Maathai, a social, political and environmental advocate from Kenya who inspired a global reforestation movement in the country. 

“All of us have to work on a grassroots level within our communities and create movements, however tiny they are, that can grow and become models.” 

Trotter credited many of her personal accomplishments to her staff over the years, especially at the Women’s Resource Society as services have grown to support the community. 

In 2015, Trotter estimated the society saw about 100 clients a month, and about 1,000 a year. Now, 10 years later, the organization sees around 1,200 clients per month and more than 16,000 a year. 

“One of the things I wanted to do when I came up here was eventually close the society down because we would fix the problem, that should be your number one goal for a not-for-profit,” Trotter said. 

Trotter explained the society has grown to include wrap-around services such as family law advocates, a Northern Health team, an outreach store offering food and clothing and second-stage housing for women and children in need. 

“We’ve always had fantastic staff who just get stuff done, which is amazing, and we have always been blessed with a very good board and although we’ve had changes in the board over the years, we’ve always been blessed with a very dedicated group of volunteers,” Trotter said. 

Trotter said she gets “fired up” about volunteers, and making a difference for clients inspires her to keep going every day. 

“We always complain in the north that we don’t have a bunch of resources, but the growth I have seen in terms of resources and being able to do things over the years has been exponential.” 

She remarked she was “blown away” to be nominated as a Bold Woman of the Month.

“I work on the principle of ‘did we get it done, did we change lives, did we make things better for people?’ and to know that other people are aware of that and cognisant of that is very humbling and quite overwhelming,” Trotter said.

Trotter encourages everyone to study, learn and work to be as self-sufficient as possible to “go as far as you possibly can,” as well as cultivating outside interests in volunteering and community.

“I would like young women to be the best they possibly can be, the best version of themselves they possibly can be,” Trotter said.

Is there someone in your life you’d like to nominate to be the Bold Woman of the Month? You can do so by filling out a nomination form here.

Selected individuals receive $100 in Bold Promotions swag and a feature article on Energeticcity.ca.

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