Ama is the Director of Research for Economic Development at the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce. Her work includes research to support business attraction, business retention, workforce, and talent strategy efforts of the Chamber as well as regional partners and investors. 

Prior to joining the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Ama worked in different roles and within different industries as an Investment Services Manager, Lead Researcher, Senior Quantitative Research Analyst among others. While a Senior Quantitative Research Analyst at True North strategic Advisors, Ama worked extensively on research projects for the Northeast Indiana Regional partnership where she developed the passion for economic development research. 

She is a Ph.D. Economist with a strong research and statistical modeling background. Her fields of specialization include Development and Monetary Economics. Ama was awarded the Graduate Research and Creative Scholar Award for her Ph.D. program at Western Michigan University. Prior to her Doctoral program she completed a master’s degree in Financial and Regulatory Economics from Illinois State University. 

As a researcher, she provides strategic and tactical leadership through research for community building and economic development initiatives and endeavors.