Previously Amara taught multimedia as an assistant professor at Pierce College in Los Angeles, where she taught multimedia storytelling, podcasting, online journalism, media design and development. There she launched a student-run internet radio station, KPCRadio.com, and developed curriculum for a new mobile application design program. Before teaching at Pierce, she taught online journalism and design classes at Cal State Long Beach. In addition, she continues to freelance as a writer and a designer (for print and web) and is currently working on independent multimedia and consulting projects. She has written for the Los Angeles Times and was previously a designer and sports reporter for the Daily Pilot in Costa Mesa. Amara has her master's degree in communications from Cal State Fullerton. Her research in graduate school focused on blogging in journalism. She is also an Apple Certified Trainer for Final Cut Pro and loves all things tech. Amara is a member of the Society of Newspaper Design, Online News Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Society of Professional Journalists. She has done media consulting and training for various professional media organizations, universities, colleges and high schools.