Introducing our new CCA President, Amanda Bourgeois

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The Canton Community Association welcomes Amanda Bourgeois as our new Canton Community Association President! For the last 4 years, Amanda has served as Vice President partnering with our former prez, Mark Edelson. We’re excited to have her take the reins and look forward to her leadership. Here’s a little taste of what to expect.

Amanda, thanks for continuing your service with the CCA. How’s it feel to be president?
It feels great! I’ve put a lot of effort these past years into helping the community and have learned so much. I’m excited to continue to work with our great volunteers. 

What did you learn from serving with Mark for the past 4 years?
Mark was great to work with and an amazing partner. He was a role model for patience; always listening and then forging a plan of action. He is also an amazing public speaker.  I’ve taken many lessons from watching him address the board and the community in a calm and amicable manner and I hope to incorporate what I’ve learned into my style of leadership.  

What are you most proud of accomplishing in your role as VP?
The VP role isn’t always about accomplishing specific things.  It’s more about the day-to-day of helping to run and build the organization.  Setting up meetings, creating agendas, steering neighbors in the right direction to resolve issues, keeping members informed, encouraging participation, attending pop-ups, fundraising, etc. I consider all the pieces big and small to be accomplishments equal in value. Haha… I will say though that I’m still fairly stoked about helping to get the new stop sign at Montford and Essex installed a few years back.  That was no small feat. 

We’re going to guess you may have both short- and long-term goals as President. So, let’s break it down. What do you hope to accomplish in 2022?
I’d like to continue to meet and engage more neighbors either by being out and about in the neighborhood or through various projects we work to accomplish.  I’m also focused on gaining more volunteers to build many of our important committees and we’d like to add more Block Captains to the program.  For this year specifically, I’m looking forward to helping the Canton Anti-Racism Alliance host a Juneteenth celebration in our neighborhood.  We are also working on re-establishing the CCA Arts Committee, hopefully starting the conversation of bringing a series of murals and other public art projects to Canton. And who isn’t excited about supporting the return of WTMD First Thursdays to the Canton Waterfront Park?! 

How about long-term? What are your goals for our community over the next few years?
My main passion project is to build a team to facilitate the ODSP redesign process.  The Square has always been the center of our community. We want to make it Canton's beating heart: a vibrant, functional space that people can enjoy on a regular basis and where we can host events and bring neighbors together for years to come. 

We’d also like to continue to update the information on the CCA website to provide more useful and current information for our community. With that, we hope to expand our Outreach procedures, finding ways other than social media to reach as many of our neighbors as possible.

And, always important is to continue to encourage neighbors to volunteer for committees, especially the Membership Committee.  We want to create gainful relationships and ensure our individual and business members can benefit from us as much as we do from their support!     

Why did you pick Vic Victoriano to be your VP?
Vic is a great guy that has proven to step up and make a difference.  He cares deeply about our community and has experience working with other types of volunteer boards, including the HHA PTO and Grunwald Club. Vic has provided sound advice to me and brings a different perspective to the conversation.  He also understands the day-to-day expectations of the VP position and has the confidence and professional skill set to represent Canton effectively when dealing with downtown.  And he’s an awesome guy to grab a drink with!

Heading the CCA can be a complicated role. How can we help? What’s your ask of the community?
No one is unfamiliar with the term “it takes a village.”  Nothing could be truer in our community. I’d like neighbors to consider volunteering their time with the CCA.  We all have busy schedules but the more people we have on our team, the better shot we have at not only maintaining the great things about our neighborhood, but we can elevate and bring so much more!  If you can spare an hour a week, we can certainly use your help.  I’d also like people to consider becoming a member.  Having a solid member base gives us contact information for who joins so we can send information via email to our members to inform them of meetings, issues, and great things that involve Canton.  At the end of the day, if you are unable to join or volunteer to be part of the organization, all I ask is that you get to know your block.  Meet your neighbors. Coordinate to help each other and keep your surrounding area clean.  Get neighborly! 

Business aside, what’s your favorite thing to do?
In short, have a good time and experience life! lol  I love going to concerts, watching live sports (go Ravens and O’s!), spending time with family and friends (including 4 legged ones), traveling anywhere I have never been, attending festivals and events around the city,  supporting our local businesses (i.e. enjoy dinner & a cocktail) and getting to know people in Canton! 

Is there anything else you’d like our members and neighbors to know?
The best part about being part of the CCA is all the people I have met that I might never have in my daily circle.  As much as this is “Smalltimore”, there is so much going on that you might never know about.  I’ve met some of the kindest and coolest people through the CCA and it’s what keeps me motivated to create a Canton life that is helpful and a neighborhood that is welcoming, inclusive, and that everyone enjoys! 

To contact Amanda, email President@CantonCommunity.org.

To read our full interview with Amanda from 2020, visit https://www.cantoncommunity.org/news-and-notes/2020/1/3/meet-amanda-bourgeois-our-vp-with-the-key-to-getting-neighborly?rq=bourgeois.