Amanda Mangaser Savage is Strategic Litigation Counsel at Public Counsel. Amanda works with movement organizers and community groups to build cases that push the law toward racial equity. Her litigation includes Smith v. Regents of the University of California (eliminating University of California’s discriminatory use of SAT/ACT scores), Cayla J. v. State of California (obtaining $2 billion settlement to redress race and wealth disparities in access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic), and Mae M. v. Komrosky (blocking California school board’s censorship of public school curriculum).

Amanda is a frequent speaker on racial and economic justice issues, and her work has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Economist, and Politico.

Prior to joining Public Counsel, Amanda brought affirmative litigation on behalf of former students defrauded by for-profit schools as an attorney with the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. She also worked extensively on civil rights matters as a fellow in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Amanda earned her A.B. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and her J.D. from Yale Law School.