Amanda Riggenbach is a combined grantee completing master’s coursework at the University of Vienna, a US teaching assistantship, and an oral history project examining the impact of Austrian Victim Thesis on the descendants of Shoah survivors. She is a 2019 Illinois Community College graduate and a 2021 Bradley University graduate. She has a bachelor of arts in English and psychology, graduating summa cum laude. Prior to graduation, Amanda was awarded the Outstanding Senior in English Award and inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame.

Following her university graduation, Amanda was selected to become the project manager of "Tumultuous 2020" at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. There, she traveled Illinois to document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday Illinoisans through oral-history interviews. Following the project's completion, Amanda began working as a museum educator at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, where she interpreted museum exhibition content through programs and educational events. She also restarted the museum’s oral-history program to bring peoples’ experiences and stories to the summer 2023 exhibition, "Heart."

Prior to beginning the Fulbright grant, Amanda worked as the youth employment program coordinator for the City of Peoria, where she managed the mayor’s youth internship program. For her work, she was awarded the Mayor’s Leadership Award.