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Amber K. Goodwin earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences from Florida State University, a master's in social policy from St. Edwards University, and a law degree from the Mitchell Hamlin School of law.

Amber has over five years of experience working as an assistant district attorney in Travis County, Texas.

2026 Texas General Election

As of September 10, 2026, Amber K. Goodwin’s website did not contain information on this issue.

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Amber K. Goodwin

Amber will fight for continued investments that expand tree canopy in East Austin, support revitalizations in places like Walter E. Long Lake, and neighborhoods across District 1. As a former Division 1 Student Athlete, she will also fight to expand free swimming lesson programs, so that every person has access to water safety education regardless of their family's income.

Policy Plans — Amber Goodwin for Austin City Council

Amber K. Goodwin was a Division I student-athlete.

Amber Goodwin is a lawyer, organizer, and public safety advocate who has spent her career on the front lines with working families, survivors, and communities fighting for safety, health, and opportunity. She currently serves as an assistant district attorney in Travis County, Texas, where she advances community-centered violence prevention, gun diversion, and survivor support, and works closely with the City of Austin’s Office of Violence Prevention.

Amber Goodwin

Amber got involved in the gun violence prevention field by working for one of her heroes, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, at GIFFORDS (formerly Americans for Responsible Solutions). There, she served as the national advocacy director, helping to support community coalitions and state legal advocacy fights.

Amber founded and led Community Justice Action Fund, the nation’s first Black- and Brown-led gun violence prevention organization. Under her leadership, the organization helped unlock more than $1.9 billion for community-centered safety strategies and shifted more than $12 billion in federal funding priorities toward prevention. She testified before Congress during the first-ever House hearing on urban gun violence and later served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, helping coordinate national partnerships among violence prevention leaders during a pivotal moment for public safety policy. Amber is also the co-founder of the Community Violence Legal Network, a national effort defending the legal rights of communities working to prevent gun violence.

Amber K. Goodwin currently serves as an assistant district attorney in Travis County, Texas. She previously served as national advocacy director at GIFFORDS, founded and led Community Justice Action Fund, and co-founded the Community Violence Legal Network.

Amber Goodwin - Giffords Law Center

Amber will expand small business loan programs and push for transparency in the city-owned land to be used for small business incubators and low-cost office space, so that the next generation of East Austin entrepreneurs has a place to start.

She will deepen the partnership between Austin Community College, local schools, community-based workforce development partners, and unions to build a skilled trades pipeline that connects District 1 residents to good-paying jobs in the construction and infrastructure boom happening right outside their doors.

She will advocate for community benefit agreements and local hiring requirements on any development receiving city subsidies, because economic development that does not employ the people already here is not development for this community.

THE BIG IDEA: Amber will push for a District 1 Economic Opportunity Fund, drawing on city resources and private philanthropy to build a public private partnership as a single coordinated strategy, because affordability and economic opportunity are the same fight.

Plans to expand small-business loans and use city-owned land for incubators and low-cost office space.

Plans to build a skilled-trades pipeline through partnerships among Austin Community College, schools, workforce groups, and unions.

Advocates for community-benefit agreements and local-hiring requirements for developments receiving city subsidies.

Proposes a District 1 Economic Opportunity Fund using city resources and private philanthropy in a public-private partnership.

- Plans to expand small-business loans and use city-owned land for incubators and low-cost office space.
- Plans to build a skilled-trades pipeline through partnerships among Austin Community College, schools, workforce groups, and unions.
- Advocates for community-benefit agreements and local-hiring requirements for developments receiving city subsidies.
- Proposes a District 1 Economic Opportunity Fund using city resources and private philanthropy in a public-private partnership.

On Clinics

Amber will convene leadership across the City, County, Central Health, and other partners to explore effective avenues to bring low-cost and no-cost health services to District 1, with particular focus on primary care, mental health, and reproductive health services.

Amber will convene leadership across the City, County, Central Health, and other partners to explore effective avenues to bring low-cost and no-cost health services to District 1, with particular focus on primary care, mental health, and reproductive health services. She will push for culturally responsive care and multilingual providers as a baseline, not a bonus.

On Food as Medicine

Amber will work with private, nonprofit, and business partners to expand access to fresh and healthy food in East Austin's food deserts, using city incentives, land-use tools, and procurement policies to bring full-service grocery options and community food programs to neighborhoods that have gone without them for decades.

She will fight to make free mental health services available to every child in District 1 who needs them, partnering with Austin Public Health, Austin ISD, community clinics, Integral Care, and nonprofit providers to build a network of no-cost care that reaches kids in schools, inside community centers, and at home. A child's access to mental health services should never depend on their family's income or their zip code.

Plans to explore low- and no-cost primary-care, mental-health, and reproductive-health services for District 1.

Plans to use city incentives, land-use tools, and purchasing policies to expand access to fresh food in East Austin.

Plans to make free mental-health services available to District 1 children through schools, community centers, homes, and partner providers.

Plans to expand free swimming lessons and water-safety education regardless of families' income.

- Plans to explore low- and no-cost primary-care, mental-health, and reproductive-health services for District 1.
- Plans to use city incentives, land-use tools, and purchasing policies to expand access to fresh food in East Austin.
- Plans to make free mental-health services available to District 1 children through schools, community centers, homes, and partner providers.
- Plans to expand free swimming lessons and water-safety education regardless of families' income.

Amber will make eviction interdiction a city priority, working across community service providers, city departments, Travis County, and Justice of the Peace courts to connect families at risk of eviction to legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation before displacement occurs. Keeping families housed is not just a housing policy. It is a violence prevention strategy backed by research, and Amber will govern like it.

Plans to expand housing options through permitting improvements, land-use reforms, affordable density bonuses, and the Community Land Trust.

Advocates for a homelessness response that expands mental-health services, substance-use treatment, and reentry programs.

Plans to prioritize eviction prevention by connecting at-risk families with legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation before displacement.

- Plans to prioritize eviction prevention by connecting at-risk families with legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation before displacement.

On Prevention Ecosystems

Amber will protect and grow the Austin Office of Violence Prevention, which she helped establish in 2019 as the first city in Texas with an office dedicated to violence prevention.

On Early Intervention

Amber will expand funding for early intervention teams that reach young people before violence does, invest in youth employment and after-school programming as prevention infrastructure, and push for stronger coordination between the city's violence prevention programs, non profits and Austin ISD.

She will also push for this as part of a PUBLIC SAFETY DASHBOARD, one that tracks and publicly reports Austin's investment in prevention alongside its investment in enforcement, so that residents can see and hold the city accountable for the full picture of what it takes to keep communities safe.

On Mental Health

Amber will ensure Austin's mobile crisis response programs are fully resourced to ensure that mental health calls are met by mental health professionals to ensure that members of our community can get connected to the immediate and long term help they need.

Plans to fund community-based violence intervention, reentry services, hospital-based intervention, and survivor-support services.

Proposes a District 1 initiative coordinating legal aid, rental assistance, violence intervention, and reentry support to prevent evictions and violence.

Plans to protect and expand the Austin Office of Violence Prevention, which her campaign says she helped establish in 2019.

Plans to fund early-intervention teams, youth employment, and after-school programs, while coordinating violence-prevention partners.

Plans to create a public-safety dashboard reporting Austin's investments in prevention alongside enforcement.

Plans to fully resource mobile crisis-response programs so mental-health professionals respond to mental-health calls.

- Plans to protect and expand the Austin Office of Violence Prevention, which her campaign says she helped establish in 2019.
- Plans to fund early-intervention teams, youth employment, and after-school programs, while coordinating violence-prevention partners.
- Plans to create a public-safety dashboard reporting Austin's investments in prevention alongside enforcement.
- Plans to fully resource mobile crisis-response programs so mental-health professionals respond to mental-health calls.

On Getting People to Care

Amber will partner with Capital Metro and other service providers to expand mobile health programs and transportation assistance mobile health programs and transportation assistance so that homebound individuals, elderly residents, and families without cars can actually reach the care they need. A clinic six miles away, unreachable by transit, is not a healthcare resource for most District 1 families. Amber will treat transportation to care as a healthcare issue.

Plans to expand frequent, affordable East Austin transit and pair transit-oriented development with guaranteed affordability.

Plans to partner with Capital Metro and other providers to expand mobile health programs and transportation assistance.

- Plans to partner with Capital Metro and other providers to expand mobile health programs and transportation assistance.

For generations, East Austin has carried a disproportionate share of the city's industrial and infrastructure footprint, leaving many neighborhoods to bear the environmental and health impacts of decisions that benefited the broader region. As Austin continues to grow, Amber believes future infrastructure investments should be planned more equitably, with careful consideration of neighborhood impacts, greater use of clean energy solutions, and a commitment to ensuring East Austin is no longer asked to shoulder an unfair share of the burden.

As Austin continues to grow, Amber believes future infrastructure investments should be planned more equitably, with careful consideration of neighborhood impacts, greater use of clean energy solutions, and a commitment to ensuring East Austin is no longer asked to shoulder an unfair share of the burden. She will also work to strengthen outreach so that eligible District 1 residents are aware of and can easily access utility assistance and energy-efficiency programs that help keep essential services affordable.

While wealthier parts of the city enjoy mature tree cover and well-maintained parks, in places like District 1 heat is a public health issue, and it is a public safety issue. When public spaces are too hot to use, communities lose the gathering places that build the social bonds that prevent violence. Amber will fight for continued investments that expand tree canopy in East Austin, support revitalizations in places like Walter E. Long Lake, and neighborhoods across District 1.

Believes infrastructure investments should use clean-energy solutions and more equitably account for neighborhood impacts.

Plans to expand outreach on utility assistance and energy-efficiency programs for eligible District 1 residents.

Advocates for continued investments in East Austin tree canopy and revitalization of Walter E. Long Lake and District 1 neighborhoods.

- Believes infrastructure investments should use clean-energy solutions and more equitably account for neighborhood impacts.
- Plans to expand outreach on utility assistance and energy-efficiency programs for eligible District 1 residents.
- Advocates for continued investments in East Austin tree canopy and revitalization of Walter E. Long Lake and District 1 neighborhoods.

Amber Goodwin is a lawyer, organizer, and public safety advocate who has spent her career on the front lines with working families, survivors, and communities fighting for safety, health, and opportunity. She currently serves as an Assistant District Attorney in Travis County, where she advances community-centered violence prevention, gun diversion, and survivor support, and works closely with the City of Austin’s Office of Violence Prevention.

Meet Amber — Amber Goodwin for Austin City Council

Nationally, Amber founded and led the Community Justice Action Fund, the nation’s only Black- and Brown-led gun violence prevention organization.

Amber is also the co-founder of the Community Violence Legal Network, a national effort defending the legal rights of communities working to prevent gun violence.

Early in her career, she was the lead political organizer for the first successful Justice for Janitors union campaign win in the South, helping low-wage workers secure dignity, fair wages, and a voice on the job.

She also organized in Austin with the Texas Organizing Project and worked in the Texas Legislature, advancing environmental justice and community voice in policymaking.

Amber K. Goodwin currently serves as an assistant district attorney in Travis County. She founded and led the Community Justice Action Fund and is a co-founder of the Community Violence Legal Network. Earlier in her career, she worked as a lead political organizer for a Justice for Janitors campaign, organized with the Texas Organizing Project, and worked in the Texas Legislature.

Plans to expand small-business loans and make city-owned land available transparently for business incubators and low-cost office space.

Plans to partner with Austin Community College, schools, workforce groups, and unions to build a skilled-trades pipeline for District 1 residents.

As a former Division 1 Student Athlete, she will also fight to expand free swimming lesson programs, so that every person has access to water safety education regardless of their family's income.

Plans to expand free swimming lessons so residents can access water-safety education regardless of family income.

- Plans to expand free swimming lessons so residents can access water-safety education regardless of family income.

On Eviction & Housing Stability as a Violence Prevention Strategy

Amber will make eviction interdiction a city priority, working across community service providers, city departments, Travis County, and Justice of the Peace courts to connect families at risk of eviction to legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation before displacement occurs.

Plans to improve permitting, support land-use and zoning reforms, require deeply affordable homes through density bonuses, and strengthen Austin's Community Land Trust.

Advocates for a homelessness response that expands mental health care, substance-use treatment, and reentry programs.

Plans to prioritize eviction prevention by connecting households at risk of eviction with legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation.

- Plans to prioritize eviction prevention by connecting households at risk of eviction with legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation.

THE BIG IDEAS: Amber will push for a District 1 Eviction Prevention and Community Safety Initiative, a bold strategy that can bring together legal aid, rental assistance, violence intervention, and reentry support into a single coordinated response, because keeping families housed, connected, and supported is the most powerful violence prevention tool a city has.

She will also push for this as part of a PUBLIC SAFETY DASHBOARD, one that tracks and publicly reports Austin's investment in prevention alongside its investment in enforcement, so that residents can see and hold the city accountable for the full picture of what it takes to keep communities safe.

Plans to protect and expand Austin's Office of Violence Prevention, which she says she helped establish in 2019.

Plans to seek sustained funding for community violence intervention, reentry, hospital-based intervention, and survivor-support services.

Plans to fund early-intervention teams, youth employment, and after-school programs, and coordinate violence-prevention efforts with nonprofits and Austin Independent School District.

Proposes a District 1 Eviction Prevention and Community Safety Initiative combining legal aid, rental assistance, violence intervention, and reentry support.

Proposes a public-safety dashboard reporting city investments in prevention alongside enforcement spending.

- Proposes a public-safety dashboard reporting city investments in prevention alongside enforcement spending.

On Utilities

For generations, East Austin has carried a disproportionate share of the city's industrial and infrastructure footprint, leaving many neighborhoods to bear the environmental and health impacts of decisions that benefited the broader region.

As Austin continues to grow, Amber believes future infrastructure investments should be planned more equitably, with careful consideration of neighborhood impacts, greater use of clean energy solutions, and a commitment to ensuring East Austin is no longer asked to shoulder an unfair share of the burden.

Advocates for expanded, frequent, affordable transit and transit-oriented development with guaranteed affordability near new density.

Believes infrastructure investments should consider neighborhood impacts, use clean-energy solutions, and distribute burdens more equitably.

- Believes infrastructure investments should consider neighborhood impacts, use clean-energy solutions, and distribute burdens more equitably.

Believes infrastructure investments should use more clean-energy solutions while considering neighborhood impacts and equitable distribution of infrastructure burdens.

Plans to improve outreach for utility assistance and energy-efficiency programs for eligible District 1 residents.

- Believes infrastructure investments should use more clean-energy solutions while considering neighborhood impacts and equitable distribution of infrastructure burdens.
- Plans to improve outreach for utility assistance and energy-efficiency programs for eligible District 1 residents.

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