Amanda Westendorf

Amanda grew up in a small farming community in Illinois and then moved to Indianapolis where she received a degree in English from Indiana University. While living in Indiana, she briefly volunteered with another urban forestry non-profit, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, as a Tree Tender. Then, after deciding the office life was not for her, she found herself volunteering with the Master Gardener program back in Illinois, which led to enrollment in horticulture classes and a job selling and working with trees and woody plants at a garden center.

She moved to Colorado in 2021 and had started working in landscaping and growing plants when she came across The Park People in one of her urban forestry textbooks. She signed up for their Community Forester program, which led to her being hired as the first Field Crew Supervisor for their soon-to-be launched TreeForce program. Soon after, she became the staff arborist, getting her official certification in 2024.

Amanda has had many great experiences during her time at The Park People and, really, has so much to take pride in, whether that’s helping to teach people how to work with plants and trees to assisting with the growth of the urban canopy at DPS school campuses. If she had to narrow down her (current) favorite tree in Denver, it would have to be an Osage Orange because she thinks it’s an up-and-comer in the urban landscape.