Associate ProfessorAmanda Tattersall

Amanda Tattersall is a globally recognised changemaker and research, and Associate Professor of Practice in urban geography, bringing decades of experience in change making and community-led research to the university and to some of the toughest problems we face (personal website here).

Latest books:

→ Conscious Tribes: thinking differently about making a difference (Hardie Grant, 2026) translates thirty years of practical experience and research into an accessible and provocative rethinking of how we make a different in challenging times.

→ People Power in Cities co-authored with Kurt Iveson (Oxford University Press, order here and those with access your univerity its available here): documents seven years of research with urban social movements and organisaitons exploring the different strategies they use to build power with people and the similar strategic patterns that exist across the world.

Amanda founded some of Australia's most impactful social change organisations. She brought Alinsky-style community organising to Australia, founding the Sydney Alliance in 2007 and served as its Executive Director until 2016. In 2005 she co-founded the digital campaign juggernaut GetUp.org.au. In 2017 Amanda launched the ChangeMakers podcast that releases fortnightly episodes sharing stories about people changing the world. You can find out more about professional and academic work and writing here: https://amandatattersall.com/

Her first book Power in Coalition was the first international study of alliance building as a strategy for social change. It was based on her PhD research as well as on her experiences as an organiser in the union movement and other social movements.  People Power in Cities with Kurt Iveson explores the different strategies urban communities use to build power and make a difference, and Conscious Tribes: thinking differently about making a difference, with Hardie Grant (August, pre-order now), which builds a map of the paradoxes of public life to help people navigate how to make change.

At the University of Sydney her research focuses on two interconnected fields - social change strategy and community-led research methods where knowledge and solutions to address intractable challenges is created with affected communities.