I’m a renter, a community-builder, and a nonprofit leader. I'm running to to be your OneCity Mayor to defeat Ken Sim.
I’ve spent my career bringing people together to solve hard problems and deliver real results.
As Executive Director of First United in Vancouver, I’ve led work at the intersection of housing, public safety, health, and community resilience.
My roots are in organizing and advocacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I helped launch DTES Response, a city-wide grassroots network that mobilized quickly to protect vulnerable residents. I’m also a trusted voice in faith and civic spaces.
I serve on the Ken Lyotier Fund Advisory Committee, the DTES Community Land Trust Coalition, and the Board of the Vancouver Opera, where I’ve worked to advance equity and inclusion in the arts. Across these roles, my focus is on leadership, accountability, and coalition-building.
I studied Art History at the University of Victoria and Museum Studies at the University of Toronto, am a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), and have completed executive leadership programs at the Harvard Kennedy School and the London School of Economics.
The Vancouver I love is full of people with heart: renters and homeowners, workers and families, artists, seniors, and students. All working hard to build a life here. But under Ken Sim, life is becoming harder and less affordable.
I’m running for mayor because I believe Vancouver needs leadership that can bring people together, and build a coalition to win. I have a plan to put people back at the centre of decision-making at City Hall, not by managing from a boardroom, but by listening, collaborating, and delivering.
That’s how we build a city with heart — and a city that works for everyone.
Affordability isn’t abstract. It shows up in grocery bills, rent cheques, and the constant anxiety about whether you’ll be able to stay in your home or neighbourhood.
Vancouverites are being squeezed from every direction. Food prices are rising, rents are out of reach, and too many people feel like the city isn’t using the tools it has to lower costs and protect communities. Read my plan.
Strong cities are built in shared spaces — places where people gather, connect, and take care of one another.
Community infrastructure like public pools isn’t a luxury. It’s essential to public health, equity, climate readiness, and belonging. When these spaces are neglected or unevenly delivered, trust erodes and inequality grows.
People deserve to feel safe. Full stop. But policing alone will not solve complex problems.
Real public safety comes from housing people, lowering costs, ensuring food access, expanding voluntary treatment, creating low-barrier jobs, and providing real mental health supports. It comes from evidence — not fear.
City Builder, Founder, Climate Leader
I’m endorsing Amanda Burrows because I want a mayor who is a doer – someone who understands City Hall and knows how to mobilize resources to support the people who live and work in this city.
I’ve known Amanda for years: as a volunteer on my own mayoral campaign, and as a smart city-builder who can bridge across neighbourhoods, sectors, and perspectives. She understands public finance and how City Hall decisions affect small businesses, non-profits, workers, and families. She’s built strong networks and she knows how to bring people together to deliver results.
Amanda is known for delivering meaningful results for people in the Downtown Eastside – but she has much broader understanding of the city. Amanda has worked with non-profits, small business owners, artists, environmentalists, faith communities, renters, and homeowners across Vancouver, and she understands that effective policy must work for different people in different parts of the city.
This moment calls for leadership grounded in knowledge, relationships, and the ability to pull the right levers for change. People are tired of slogans and surprise cuts to services. Over the last three years, I’ve heard Amanda quoted more than anyone else in the press – articulating clear, smart policy and holding City Council to account. She shows up every day, not just during elections.
I’m in awe when I see Amanda in action. She knows how to advance housing affordability, economic development, climate action, and arts and culture and she leads with integrity, care, and conviction.
I’m excited about the future of Vancouver under Amanda’s leadership, and I hope you’ll join me in ensuring she is our next mayor.
President of UBCIC
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs have been situated in the Downtown Eastside for my entire term of 27 years. So we’re very aware of the issues in the Downtown Eastside. The homelessness, the lack of affordable housing, the opioid crisis, the increasing violence on our streets, violence against Indigenous women and girls – it’s a very long list of social ills.
City hall has not been able to establish a meaningful presence here and do work that has improved the situation. If fact, if anything, they’ve worsened it. City hall and the decisions of virtually attacking homeless people, people with drug addictions and using unbelievable force. We know that addictions are a health issue, it’s not a criminal issue. So I really look forward to Amanda and her campaign and it would be absolutely amazing if Amanda were to be elected.
I have a long track record of voting for women and the reason I do that is I absolutely believe that women make better leaders. They’re more engaged with the issues and they carry the burden of poverty and violence and so many other issues that men do not. Women leaders have a higher level of commitment and integrity. [Amanda is] very much aware of the Downtown Eastside and outstanding issues. I’m definitely in your corner. We need change.
Community Leader, Activist, Previous NDP Candidate
Haida Artist & Advocate
In my work as an artist and community advocate, I look for people who understand that healing begins with listening. Amanda showed this from the moment we began organizing together during COVID. She respects culture, story, and the space that ceremony creates.
There are many who speak about the DTES but do not know its spirit. They don’t understand the weight of its history or the resilience of the people here. Amanda has taken the time to learn, to witness, and to carry that understanding in her work.
I saw her commitment when she supported the ceremonial removal of the totem pole at First United, and I continue to see it in our shared work during winter emergencies and decampments. Amanda brings courage, compassion, and clear purpose. She is a leader who can help guide our city forward with integrity. This is why I'm endorsing Amanda.
Amanda Burrows has a unique ability to bring communities together, center voices that are often marginalized and protect human rights at every turn.
As a School Trustee, I know how critical it is to build policy with people at the center and how often many people in our city are sidelined and excluded. I know Amanda will bring her experience from the frontlines to all aspects of her work at city hall with OneCity. It is my pleasure to support Amanda.
Facilitator, Artist, Educator
I first met Amanda Burrows while volunteering at Indigenous Fashion Week Vancouver, and over the years our paths have remained closely aligned: from arts and culture events to deep engagement work in housing and justice in the DTES. Her commitment to community building and social change is grounded in real relationships and ongoing collaboration.
Amanda’s commitment to advancing culture, equity and justice is second to none and she brings with it a listening mindset. Amanda has been grounded in the DTES, and engaged with community throughout her career. Simply put, Amanda shows up consistently.
I admire Amanda for her ability to bring together culture, community and social strategy in ways that actually build momentum. She understands that arts and culture are not separate from housing justice or neighbourhood wellbeing: they are part of the same ecosystem. With her background in frontline community work and her leadership skills, Amanda is uniquely positioned to bring achievable solutions to our city’s most pressing challenges.
CEO, Arts Leader, Problem Solver
Few people bring as much sustained, genuine collaboration in our arts and culture scene, and Amanda stands apart because she has been involved at every level.
Throughout my time in Vancouver’s arts and culture scene, I’ve watched and worked with Amanda Burrows—first in my role on the board of Vancouver Opera when she was staff, through to her leadership in community-based projects and events like the Indian Summer Festival, where our paths cross regularly. I’ve seen and experienced her dedication to amplifying creative voices and building inclusive cultural spaces.
No matter the work, Amanda brings forward-thinking solutions rooted in a deep understanding of community. She knows that culture is foundational to healthy cities, identity, and belonging. If we want a city led with a deep understanding of itself, its people, and its future, Amanda is the kind of leader who will make it happen.
Former Moderator of the United Church & Former Vision Councilor & NDP MLA
Amanda leads by listening, building trust, and bringing diverse partners together around a shared purpose, navigating complexity with steadiness. She understands that leadership must serve everyone, especially those who have too often been excluded, and collaborates on solutions that reflect that commitment.
We are endorsing Amanda Burrows because Vancouver needs a mayor who can deliver real solutions at scale while remaining rooted in community.
She is that leader.
Public Health Scientist, Arts Organizer, 2022 Onecity Candidate
After four years of ABC governance, Vancouver is facing an alarming political crisis. That crisis is created by the absence of two important leadership factors that Ken Sim clearly lacks: care and competence. This has resulted in one policy failure after another, leaving the people of Vancouver with a city that is less affordable, less safe, and less equipped to handle the challenges we face in 2026.
I’ve known Amanda to be someone who exemplifies care and competence. She understands that real leadership isn’t about making decisions behind closed doors to serve a narrow set of donor interests; it’s about bringing diverse interests to the table, because we are stronger together.
Amanda also understands the critical role that arts and culture play in building community and connection. She knows a thriving cultural sector is a city’s beating heart, and the best way to bring people together to turn shared values into real outcomes.
Vancouver needs a mayor who understands that care, competence, and community are what make cities livable. Amanda Burrows gets that, because that’s the kind of leader she is and the kind of mayor she’s going to be. I’m proud to endorse her.
