Amanda Ford

Amanda is a Vice President at Kearns & West with 24 years of experience in program management, Tribal and community engagement, facilitation, and peacebuilding.

Amanda Ford works at the intersection of water governance, natural resource planning, and inclusive participation, designing processes that bring agencies, Tribal nations, and communities to consensus and agreement. She leads facilitation and participatory planning for state and federal clients including the California State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Water Resources, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Department of the Interior. Her recent work spans groundwater sustainability engagement, post-fire hazard planning, offshore carbon sequestration convening, and the integration of community, regional, and Tribal and Indigenous Knowledge into environmental planning. Amanda serves as a liaison and mediator between Tribal nations, community-based organizations, and local, state, and federal government. She has advanced drinking water access for Native American Tribes and small water systems, co-authored the California Water Plan Update 2023, and directed international education, water, and peacebuilding programs across Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.