Amy Eisert Nominated for Women Making History

By Vydalia Weatherly Staff writer

Amy Eisert, director of the Thomas J. Gamble Civic Institute at Mercyhurst University was nominated for Women Making History 2023. Women Making History is an honor given by the Mercy Center for Women. Eisert is one of 16 women in the Erie area to be nominated for this honor.

“It’s exciting to be nominated among 15 other amazing women doing remarkable work in the Erie area,” Eisert said. “It was a surprise and an honor.”

For Eisert, this nomination means a lot because it is through an organization that sets an example for collaboration within the community, something that is important to Eisert and her own work.

At Mercyhurst, Eisert has worked at the Civic Institute for 21 years now and it is a link to the community as it provides data, evaluation and best practice information to help support social causes that address issues such as criminal justice, child welfare, domestic violence, homelessness and education in Erie.

Eisert said she works to provide straight forward research and facts to the organizations she works with. This way the organizations can use that information to create a plan that works for their needs.

“Data and science aren’t real popular right now,” Eisert said. Yet through this data she hopes to help organizations optimize the work they are doing and, in turn, make Erie a better place.

Erie has always held a special place in Eisert’s heart. “My roots are in Erie. It means a lot to me. It’s my home,” she said. Eisert was born in Erie, partially raised here and then decided to return as an adult and raise her own family here. She truly loves Erie and wants to it be the best place it can be for her family as well as everyone else.

“I want it to be a home my family can be proud of,” Eisert said, “and a place they can feel safe in and comfortable in.”

Aside from her work at Mercyhurst, Eisert does a lot for the Erie community. She has worked as a Research partner for Unified Erie since 2011. She works toward violence reduction with her department focusing primarily on the domain of prevention.

“We look for where there are gaps in resources and work to strengthen those resources organizations have,” Eisert said.

She has also worked with the Domestic Violence Action Alli-