Greetings!

I’m Selectman Amanda Grow, it’s nice to (virtually) meet you! I’ve lived in town since 2007; I came from the midwest for work after the market crash. Norwood was the first New England town I had ever visited, and right away I knew there was something distinct about it.

It’s taken me a long time to put into words what it is about Norwood that is so captivating to me.

My husband and I rented here multiple times over the years, then we decided to put down permanent roots in Massachusetts ... except I kept finding myself drawn to stay in Norwood. The great food, the adorable town center, the convenient amenities, the mix of cultures from around the world, the municipally owned internet company … how could we give that up?? And for a long time I thought those were the reasons I liked Norwood so much. I mean, those things all definitely help! But it’s more . . .

What I love about Norwood is that it is a place where Innovation is balanced with Scrutiny. The people of Norwood are, and have always been, willing to take risks and try new imaginative ways of doing things. To pivot and experiment. Yet they don’t just haul off and try any old thing wrecklessly. Norwood tries to punch holes in theories, looks for data to back up claims, sets a threshold of risk they’re willing to tolerate, and weighs the upsides and downsides of any given plan. That’s how it has become the community it is today! And that approach resonates with me so much. It’s so much how I approach the world.

I’m a very “party in the front, business in the back” kind of person. That’s not a typo, I know most people say it the other way around but it’s backwards with me. On the surface, I seem like this fun risk taking person — I mean blue hair, right? But at my core, I’m very serious and studious.

In my professional life, I’ve spent the last 19 years helping to run marketing, community, and business projects for enterprise level video game companies (yes the rumor is true, I ran games for Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, the movie studio). I’ve helped millions of consumers from around the world, but I knew I wanted to give back even more. So I answered the call of civic duty. I like to say that I have such a fun job that I make my spare time focused on really serious things to balance that out.

Personality wise, I’m a nerd who loves data science, financial forecasting, and behavioral economics. Sometimes we get 300 page reports for the Board and these are my delight! (Fun trivia: did you know that according to our study on our school buildings, the Balch has held up comparatively well despite being older than other such buildings. These are the delicious tidbits of information you get reading the details of reports and scrutinizing charts and graphs). At home, I’m still a nerd … a civics nerd! No really, I’m like the Bob Ross or Mr. Rogers of civics. Sometimes I read Mass General Laws, US Code, or Town Bylaws strictly for enjoyment (I’m at 97% with two badges left on the My Legislature Statehouse website. It’s fun, try it!). I love to help people fall in love with civics too. I have a fun job that affords me a lot of free time, so I happily spend that free time on serious civics.

Nothing makes me happier than helping someone who has a question about how to find or do something related to how their government or laws work.

I’m…

Invested In Norwood

I’ve lived in town since 2007 as a renter, and have owned a home here since 2018. I use the Norwood Light for not just internet, but also to power my electric car and all my lawn equipment. In 2020 I completed my dream project of converting my home fully off of oil and onto air sourced electric heat pump for both home heating and water heating. I figure why give my fuel and heating money to some nameless oil corporation, when I can give to my town instead? I’ve also volunteered data to the Town so they have a case study on my energy use since the changes. In case you can’t tell, I am WICKED excited about energy and technology. Remember: the Board of Selectmen also act as Light Commissioners. I’m excited to use what I already know about energy production, internet technologies, and the customer experience, to apply it toward Light Commission business.

Non-Partisan

I’m a proud independent voter who is not - nor have I ever been - enrolled with any political party in our Commonwealth. I’m happy to collaborate with anyone who wants to work toward the public good, whether they’re in a party or not. I focus on issues, not parties or candidates. I don’t like to pre-judge what the answer could be merely based on who presented it. Does the idea have merit on its own? Is it based on sound research? Who does it help, who does it hurt? How effective is it? How COST effective is it? Has it been scrubbed free of unconscious cognitive biases? Does it create unintended loopholes in the laws? Can we tweak it to find common ground? Political parties have their place - they help people find a sense of community around shared interests. That’s great! But I get my greatest sense of community from being around engaged citizens, and I’m willing to work with anyone who has the public good in mind, whether they’re in a party, in government, or on their own. We won’t agree 100% of the time, but I’ll always respect that you are engaged in the process and I’ll never think badly of you for trying to improve things for fellow residents!

Walks The Walk On Sustainability

You will be hard pressed to find another Selectman who is as sustainable as me, or who is as willing to participate in proposals put forward to residents. I don’t just say “oh you should do (insert climate friendly thing here)”. I do it myself, and then I help answer any questions people may have about it so they have first-hand information from someone they know. It’s about making efforts, and seeing how doable things are, and helping others understand what’s possible. Last year I celebrated replacing the very last direct fossil fuel using thing on my property. Everything about my home now runs on the energy provided through our Municipal Light Department. I’ve been reintroducing native species of plants and trees and slowly replacing my lawn to improve stormwater run off, help with biodiversity, and lower my energy use through evaporative cooling. I’ve been participating actively in the town composting pilot. I shop at the town Farmer’s Market (and bring my reusable bags). My glasses are made of wood. I drove my car hundreds of miles in 16 hours to a civic conference and then recorded little video logs of the journey to help teach people what it’s like to drive long distances with an EV. I volunteered my home energy data to the Light Department so they could study it, and then I made myself available to be interviewed for NCM to help other people learn about how it worked and what it was like. I’ve replaced my entire home cleaning and personal hygiene routine with low packaging waste plastic free options. Whenever possible I avoid taking a physical copy of an agenda packet at Board meetings to reduce paper waste, and bring my own water bottle as much as I can. I’m in the process of moving this entire website to a new provider that is carbon neutral. My remaining problematic guilty pleasure is travel. I’m hoping some innovative person out there comes up with a way to reduce the impacts of air travel. You are basically gonna be hard pressed to find someone on the Board who is as mindful as me of trying to improve my sustainability.

Proud of our town, Commonwealth, and Country

People ask me about my blue hair all the time. Does it mean I’m in a party? Is it some kind of rebellion? Here’s the truth: I like to show civic pride! Remember how I said I’m a civics nerd? Well I match my hair with red and white during important occasions like the 4th of July, US Election days, or just any time when it’s time to be patriotic. I use white when I want to show my pride for our Massachusetts flag. And I add yellow when I want to celebrate our town colors. I’m ready to celebrate our town, state, and nation at any time! Does it put off officials? Well at this point I’ve had multiple constructive face-to-face conversations with people like our Statehouse Rep, Statehouse Senator, Governor, Statehouse Senate President, Secretary of State’s staffers, and our Federal Congressman. I find that it actually just helps them remember that we spoke, and makes following up more effective. If anything, I get flagged down by their staff when they see the blue hair passing by even when I’m not seeking them first.

Pleased to meet you

Thank you so much for taking the time to learn about me! Even if you don’t vote for me, I hope you’ll participate in the Town election . Every year there is a town election, and you can be a voter or even run for one of the many open roles! It’s no joke - good governance is not a self driving car, it requires us to stay engaged with our local officials and to vote on them, because the decisions made at the local level impact our town for years. Sometimes generations! Be a part of that.

With sincerity,

Selectman Amanda Grow

Post Script: I know, you’ve finished all this warm fuzzy text and you’re saying to yourself “yeah, but are they qualified?” Click here to find out how I stack up to your expectations of what a Selectman should be. Bonus: Get into the details with what I know about the Energy Grid.