ABOUT ME

From a young age, I’ve loved to observe people, places, new things, to try and understand what makes people tick and why some people have so much and others so little. Perhaps it is the product of being part of a large extended family where it was hard to get a word in edgewise or as a result of growing up in beautiful yet complex South Carolina. I’ve taken this interest and embedded it into my career.
Non-traditional is how some might describe my journey, but to me it makes perfect sense. I studied history and studied abroad every chance I had. I worked for several large international foundations and nonprofits building economic development and financial health projects where I had the privilege of traveling and living overseas getting to know individuals and their needs, constraints, and priorities for achieving financial well-being. I decided that instead of one-off solutions or projects, I wanted to build marketplace solutions and services, and so I went to graduate school and studied business and economics. I worked with Mastercard, Accion, and Digital Frontiers while in school, and upon graduating joined the MIT D-Lab. At D-Lab, I have built a foundation in participatory design methods and education while training global innovators and practitioners how to design more inclusive initiatives and programs. 
At the heart of it all is a love of building relationships, supporting and equipping global leaders to solve complex challenges, and putting ideas into action.

Designer, Relationship-builder, Project Manager

MY BACKGROUND

I’m a proud generalist who has led teams and projects as a design strategist, facilitator, program manager, and financial inclusion specialist. 


EDUCATION

The Fletcher School, Tufts University

MA, International Business and Development Economics 2015 - 2017

Villanova University

BA, History 2004 - 2008

SELECT CONTENT

Welch and Epting. (2017). Laying the Foundation: A Case Study on Colombia’s Landmark 2014 Financial Inclusion Law. Tufts University.

Epting, Amanda, Varga, Valéria, and Emile Schmitz. (2018). The Demand Engine: Growth Hacking Strategies for Scaling Demand at the BoP. Cambridge: MIT D-Lab.

Epting, Amanda, Benhayoune, Saida. (2020). Challenges to Building an Inclusive Business Community: 5 Lessons from the MIT Practical Impact Alliance. Cambridge: MIT D-Lab.

Tischendorf, Repishti and Epting. (2021). Talking #InclusiveBiz Podcast: Impacting the growth trajectory of women founders through innovative initiatives, such as Global Scale Up X. iBAN.

GET IN TOUCH

amanda.epting@gmail.com