We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda McDougald Scott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

A friend of mine who works for the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network reached out and let me know that the ACLU was looking for a child care expert to write an expert testimony for one of their cases. Not only was I excited about a contract, but I also love the ACLU and was excited to write an expert testimony for them with my brand new Ph.D. credentials.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the work that I do fueled by passion, as well as some interested advisors’ recognition of my aptitude and abilities–leading to their encouragement for me to pursue policy, politics, and advocacy work. Transforming best practices informed by science into policy is a passion of mine. I am a continual student of my surroundings, and approach my work with a keen interest in solving problems. I am also approach problems with a different lens from many, due to my interest in focusing on what CAN be done in a situation instead of all of the road blocks.

When I became a mother, I was working on a neighborhood project in which we were applying data about what the community wanted and needed relevant to early childhood and getting to work. We found that quality, affordable, proximal child care was needed; therefore, we worked with SHARE Head Start to make that a reality. We raised the money for and upfitted part of a community center to 2 and 3-year-old classrooms. From there, I became passionate about child care, fueled further when my own son started attending a center in town. I got to know his teachers, who told me about their pay, benefits, and treatment. The injustice of this situation fired me up to do something about it, and I have been working on child care advocacy ever since. My dissertation was on what child care workers need, with a qualitative focus so that I could share those stories with legislators and others in a meaningful and impactful way.

My work as Chair of the Greenville County Democratic Party (GCDP) involved implementing an old strategy for infrastructure, and adding a winning strategy to move Greenville County Democrats, and therefore also South Carolina Democrats, forward. This strategy was implemented by recruiting and supporting 7 candidates in Greenville County, and partnering with Spartanburg County to do the same there. I raised more money as Chair than any other Greenville County Party Chair ever has, and it was used to fuel this strategy. Although we did not win, we turned out infrequent voters and expanded the base. We also contributed to a greater Democracy, as choice was on the ballot for several people in Greenville and Spartanburg Counties. We knew we would not win, but this was the beginning of a program that can be successful if it is continued.

My advocacy work has been mainly on child care, school lunches, safety in schools, and health. I have partnered with other organizations in South Carolina to push for Medicaid access for child care workers. I have also gathered stories to advocate for school lunches for all children in South Carolina. I helped build a lawsuit when the School Districts were not requiring masks during COVID.

My skills, experience, interests, and tenacity are varied and vast, but I believe they make me a powerful advocate, researcher, and leader for justice.

My bio:

Amanda McDougald Scott, PhD is the CEO of Artemis Consulting, and Director of the Responsible Action PAC. Artemis Consulting allows much flexibility in the work she does, including campaigns, research, writing, editing, and advocating for policy. She is the immediate past Chair of the Greenville County Democratic Party (GCDP), a position in which she served with distinction for 3 years. Her particular areas of expertise are systems, politics, health care, early childhood, and child care. For the past ten years, Dr. McDougald Scott has been a community and policy researcher, which fuels her advocacy for early childhood with a special focus on child care. She believes that Kindergarten readiness is workforce readiness for children, families, and employers.

Dr. McDougald Scott has an array of interests and areas of training, and her understanding of systems—that all areas of policy must work well together to create a more meaningful whole—allows her flexibility in her approach to different topic areas. She also has extensive experience with building diverse and inclusive coalitions to work towards common goals.

Dr. McDougald Scott received her doctorate from Clemson University in the Institute on Neighborhood and Family Life, Master of Science from Augusta State University in Applied Experimental Psychology, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Carolina in Experimental Psychology. She is a researcher, advocate, mother of an elementary student, and former candidate for Greenville County Council. Dr. McDougald Scott’s background in academia; starting non-profits; community engagement; volunteering; and passion for working towards big goals using strategic, actionable steps has led her to advocate for solutions that will make life more equitable for all.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My parents taught me to be a seeker of truth, think for myself, and not to be afraid to stand alone if something is right. They also believed that this would lead me to align with them politically and otherwise–however, over time, learning, contemplation, and exposure to the world, I have changed. This change has not come without hardship, however, I am living my life based on beliefs about the world, science, best practices and evidence, and a way of treating people that I believe is better and closer to who I want to be.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have had to pivot many times. Among the most significant pivots was when my advisor in my Masters program met with me to tell me I was not going to be a clinical psychologist, but rather, based on my skills, talents, interests, and natural proclivities, I should pursue a career in politics, policy, and advocacy. She offered a Governor’s internship for me to try, recommended me for it, and I tried it out. The rest is history– I loved seeing how my love for learning, knowledge, and research could be translated into policy that could affect the lives of many.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.partnerwithartemis.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandammcdougald
• Other: https://amandamcdougaldscott.medium.com