Alumni Spotlight: Amber Quinney

Words like “over-achiever,” “ambitious,” and “type-A” are often used to describe the energies and passions of young people like Amber Quinney. Growing up on the East Side, she attended Waterfront, and MST through 8^th grade before entering the “remarkable, incredible” Hutch Tech high school. “I would say I had the best opportunity Buffalo could give a public school student.” Quinney graduated from Canisius College in 2018 with a degree in marketing, becoming the first member of her family to graduate from a four-year college. Her nonstop hustle gained her six figures in total scholarship awards, nine paid internships, and three fellowships. Quinney was hired by Say Yes in the fall of 2019 to work as Executive Assistant to Executive Director David Rust. “I think that my story is parallel to the story of Say Yes, and that’s about a kid in Buffalo optimizing opportunity,” Quinney said. “Say Yes has this bold promise to children and families to access opportunities, if you are hungry enough, if you are humble enough. My story is symbolic of the Say Yes story.”