Amanda Díaz

Organizing Director | She/her/ella

As Organizing Director, Amanda leads FFI’s organizing program in California. Through base-building, leadership development, and strategic campaigns, she uplifts the demands of leaders inside detention centers across California with the end goal of freeing themselves, freeing their comrades, and abolishing immigration detention. 

Through the incredible leadership of organizers inside immigration detention, Amanda has worked on multiple federal complaints, including one in 2022 highlighting toxic environmental conditions inside and outside of the Imperial Regional Detention Facility.  This advocacy led to the creation of the Imperial Liberation Collaborative, which now convenes detained organizers and outside advocates to uplift the demands of detained individuals, support internal organizing efforts, and end systemic abuses in detention.

As the proud daughter of undocumented immigrants from Colima, Mexico, Amanda has dedicated her career to fighting for liberation, dignity, and self-determination for communities of color. Amanda fundamentally believes in following the leadership of those most impacted and has seen the success of this approach throughout her career, but especially at FFI. She is committed to collective liberation and building the world we know we need by uplifting and building the power of currently and formerly incarcerated people.

For nearly a decade, grassroots organizing, power building, relationship building, and training have been central to Amanda’s career. Prior to becoming the Organizing Director, Amanda managed FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline by recruiting, training, and managing hundreds of hotline volunteers across the country. She connected with leaders inside and empowered them to speak out and organize for change. She also managed advocacy campaigns and requests for support directly from people in detention and their loved ones by filing federal complaints, documenting abuse, and connecting individuals to external resources. Prior to joining FFI, Amanda was a community organizer fighting to protect the rights of immigrants in Seattle. She also worked as a legal assistant where she prepared U-Visa and family-based petitions, and supported attorneys on removal cases. As a student organizer, Amanda was a tutor at a women’s prison and organized with La Resistencia, a grassroots, undocumented-led organization fighting to close down the Northwest Detention Center.

Amanda is a first-generation college graduate with a B.A. in American Border Studies from the University of Puget Sound. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys playing soccer, trying new restaurants, and watching her dog, Miel, chase her cat, Canela.