Amy Wick Mavis changes girl’s lives every single day… as the Executive Director of PACE Center for Girls of Manatee County for the past 20 years Amy’s mission has been to help girls find their place, find their voice and achieve their potential. PACE provides gender–responsive and trauma-informed programming and PACE manatee has served over 1,200 girls since opening its doors in 1989.

The girls love Miss Wick – she goes above and beyond for every single girl, giving them tough love, encouragement, and hope for a better future…but they have to work hard for it! Amy is also a huge volunteer at her daughter’s school – St. Joseph’s, chairing their annual 3-day fundraiser, the Carnival Spectacular! She inspires others to step up and follow her example of service.

Amy is married to Greg and has a beautiful daughter, Katherine. Amy holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Mary Washington College and a graduate degree in Education from the University of Delaware.

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom.  It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.  I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.” ~ unknown