The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is proud to welcome Andy Kirschner to the AME Home Team as manager of corporate engagement.
Andy joins us with more than 15 years of experience in volunteer and membership engagement, bringing a passion for connecting people and building thriving communities within professional associations and nonprofit organizations. Throughout his career, Andy has helped organizations recruit and develop volunteer leaders, create meaningful partnerships and enhance member value. His background includes expertise in nonprofit board development, design thinking, partner relations and volunteer management.
AME MANAGER, CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT
Some of Andy’s previous roles include Chicago director at 18Doors, director of community engagement at KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation, director of alumni relations at Interfaith Youth Core and founder of 100 Reasons to Win, where he served as a coach, trainer and facilitator.
Most recently, Andy supported AME as a program coordinator during the AME St. Louis 2025 International Conference. In that role, he played a key part in improving attendee and volunteer experiences, managing backend event logistics, organizing materials for session leaders and optimizing our registration platform. Since then, Andy has continued applying his "network weaving superpowers" to help broaden AME’s member outreach and strengthen the pipeline of future volunteer leaders.
We are also proud to share that Sara O’Hara has been promoted to director of events and corporate engagement! Sara is AME’s longest-serving Home Team member and is fondly known as our AME historian. Her deep knowledge of our journey and unwavering commitment to our community make her an invaluable leader.
AME DIRECTOR, EVENTS & CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT
In her new role, Sara will continue to lead the AME Champions Club, oversee key events that bring our community together and, along with Andy, strengthen corporate engagement, deepen relationships with partners and enhance the overall value of AME membership. Sara’s dedication and vision will ensure AME continues to thrive and deliver exceptional experiences for our members and partners.
Under Sara and Andy’s leadership, AME will continue to be the premier organization to inspire a commitment to enterprise excellence by bringing people together to share, learn and grow, focused on driving continuous improvement, applying lean thinking and creating operational excellence. Enterprise excellence embraces lean practices, anticipates future trends and leverages emerging technologies, including AI and modern-day people-centric frameworks — all in support of continuous improvement and our members' journey to achieve enterprise excellence today and tomorrow.
Please congratulate Sara O’Hara on this well-deserved promotion and welcome Andy Kirchner to the AME Home Team.
For more information about AME, please contact info@ame.org.