The People in Your Neighborhood: Danielle Amira

If you had to use three words to describe Danielle Amira, they would be outgoing, positive, and fun.

She is a farm girl at heart. She grew up on a family farm in Gaylord, Minnesota and is incredibly close with her family.

"I have a twin sister and two other sisters," she said. "I spend a lot of time with my family on the farm. We especially love to four wheel and go shopping."

Danielle received her bachelors degree in political science from the U. One of her favorite parts of studying at the U was the study abroad opportunities. Danielle studied abroad in Florence, Italy. She also traveled to Ireland, Scotland, and Paris on a week break while studying abroad.



While studying in Italy, she met her husband, Mahdi. Her husband is originally from Algeria, but he moved to France when he was 18. He eventually moved to Italy to become a chef and lived there for about 10 years before he moved to Minnesota in 2007 to be with Danielle. Soon after, they married.

After college, Danielle began working at the University Press in 2009. She eventually moved to work in the Williamson Hall Cluster office as an Executive Account Specialist. A year ago, she was promoted to Accountant 1.

"The Cluster serves seven departments around the University, ASR being one of them," she said. "I work with McNamara Alumni Center and University Counseling & Consulting Services."

Danielle plans and forecasts the two department's budgets. She has monthly meetings with both of them to determine their needs. Her favorite part of working for the Cluster is the group of people she works with and her easygoing boss.

Outside of work, Danielle enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband bought their first home in Columbia Heights and are expecting their first child; a boy due on November 6. "I'm a constant worry wart so my mom jokes that I'm going to follow my kids around with a Clorox wipe," she said. "But cleaning is a de-stresser for me."

One final Danielle fun fact: she cannot live without coffee and hair products.

Danielle's Deets
1. Hope Floats is her favorite movie.
2. Her husband says she resembles Monica from Friends because she's a "clean freak."
3. Danielle likes all types of music, but some of her favorites now are influenced by her husband. She likes Arab musician Amr Diab and Italian musician Nek.
4. Danielle is a good swimmer.
5. She would love to be involved in the fashion/design world, either as a designer or an interior designer.
6. Italian is her favorite type of food.
7. She loves to read fashion magazines.
8. She would like to own her own clothing boutique one day.
9. If she had a superpower, it would be to read minds. "It'd help me understand people better."
10. Her favorite movie as a kid was Clueless.