I am a business professional with a background in strategic and content marketing; crisis management; and business development and launches. My areas expertise include strategic communications, content creation and technical publications. My past work includes overseeing medical device teams and outdoor education programs. I served as chief editor at publishing companies, as a regional manager for a medical device company, and president of Northerly Outfitters. I continue to provide professional strategic communications expertise for organizations.
I earned a bachelor's degree from Augustana College and a master's degree from the University of Oregon.
I often tell students to cast their net wide to try new opportunities — and to keep an open mind. I grew up in a Big Ten town where I followed of football and basketball teams, but I went to a small liberal arts school for my undergraduate studies. While I was there, I picked up many hands-on research and job opportunities that proved to be instrumental in my career. When I applied to graduate school, I had a healthy portfolio of work that enabled me to have plenty of top-tier acceptances for graduate school. Ultimately, I chose a program tailored for me. Go Ducks!
My husband, Steven, and I have been married 30 years, and we moved to the area in 1999. Our children only attended CCSD46 and D127 public schools. Our children went on to attend Augustana College and Washington University at St. Louis.
As a volunteer in the schools, I served as a coach for Science Olympiad teams for CCSD46 for six years and a math-facts coach at Prairieview Elementary for two years. In 2013, I volunteered as a reading tutor at Round Lake High School for the school year.
I also volunteered with the GCHS Band Boosters from 2014-2017.
My favorite classes in high school included physics and journalism because of the teachers. My sophomore English teacher taught me unforgettable skills to approach writing that took me through college essays and beyond.
I ran on the track team, played percussion in band and played piano with the jazz band. I earned a college music scholarship, and many of my closest friendships started in music programs going back to when I was a young child and teen.
In addition to being an elected official, I have served on a number of nonprofit, nonpartisan boards at the state, county, and regional levels in Illinois:
For years, I operated my company Northerly Outfitters out of a brick-and-mortar shop in Grayslake. I understand the complexities of budgets from small business owners as well as when I was responsible for multimillion dollar budgets for teams at corporations. I have the unique experience of being a local business owner with corporate experience on the board.
Copyright © 2024 Amy Knutson Strack for D127 All Rights Reserved. Paid for by Amy Knutson Strack. This is a nonpartisan election. No funds accepted by political action groups or organizations.
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