Amanda Defran is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over a decade of experience supporting high-performing teams and managing complex operations across the tech, nonprofit, and government sectors. She’s known for her ability to bring clarity to ambiguity, streamline workflows, and keep fast-moving projects on track without losing sight of the details.
Her background includes executive support, cross-functional project coordination, and process improvement in environments ranging from startups to large-scale defense programs. Amanda’s work style is defined by adaptability, strategic thinking, and a collaborative spirit.
Featured Writing
"Ways to Dismantle Machismo"
In this featured Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest blog post, Amanda Defran explores five actionable ways to challenge and dismantle machismo in our communities. Drawing from both cultural insight and lived experience, she outlines practical strategies for promoting emotional expression, equitable responsibilities, inclusive language, and active allyship.
The piece encourages readers to reflect on how everyday behaviors can either reinforce or resist harmful gender norms—and offers accessible steps toward building more respectful, affirming, and gender-equitable communities.
Near & Dear
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Planned Parenthood
Since 1963, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest has been providing confidential, comprehensive, high-quality medical services to the communities of San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial counties.
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey and Ida B. Wells.
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The Chicano Federation
Established in 1969 by civil rights advocates, the organization delivers neighborhood-based programs to support more than 50,000 people each year the Federation empowers families to build enduring well‑being, resilience, and intergenerational growth across San Diego County .