Amanda Reilly-Sokoli '12
Co-founder, Co-director, Pennsylvania Furniture Mission
Creative. Courageous. Global.
“My advice to current or prospective Millersville University students is enjoy the learning process, each moment, each class, and each connection that you make. Don’t stress about each test, project, or paper. Life is a journey, and the sooner you learn to embrace the journey and become more goal-oriented and less task-oriented, the more you will excel in everything you choose to do.”
Current City: Wyomissing, PA
MU Degree(s): B.A. in Social Work
’Ville for Life Snapshots
- Co-founded the Pennsylvania Furniture Mission in 2022 with husband, Pashk Sokoli, an Albanian national who just became a US citizen in March 2023.
- Spent the last four years in Chicago doing community organizing work around housing, mental health, gun safety, and workforce development.
Lived, worked, and volunteered abroad in Rome, Italy; Durres, Albania; and Irpin, Ukraine. - Enjoys oil painting, mixed media creation, photography; building jigsaw puzzles; foreign travel; spending time with family and friends; playing guitar, piano and singing; learning new languages; writing.
- Has over a decade of experience in social work on a micro and mezzo level, assisting those leaving homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, at-risk children and youth, community members seeking to create a more just society, and individuals experiencing challenges related to mental health issues, among others.
- MU student involvement: Student Advisor to the Millersville Borough, Social Work Organization; Habitat for Humanity; Into the Streets; John Newman Association; Women’s Leadership Retreat
How did Millersville University help you get to where you are today?
Millersville University helped me expand my horizons, and experience new things. I grew up in Berks County in West Lawn, PA, and my world was predominantly limited to the Pennsylvania suburbs. My family and I had traveled across the county when I was a kid, however, Millersville University opened the door to a new kind of learning and exploring. I loved my internship in my senior year with the Community Action Partnership through Domestic Violence Services of Lancaster County (DVSLC). Through my coursework at MU and my internship at DVSLC, I began to experience the world in a new light and see the world from the perspective of others, who often had less fortunate circumstances. I learned that the “one size fits all” model does not apply to people and their stories. We all have unique stories to share with each other.