[1][2][3] Amy Courter graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and education, minoring in computer science and mathematics.

[4] Courter played basketball and field hockey as a Kalamazoo Hornet, and studied abroad in France at the Université de Strasbourg.

Courter served as Vice President of Information Technology and Telecom at Valassis, a marketing company in Michigan.

Courter began as a mid-level manager at Valassis, accepting increasingly more strategic roles, overseeing all IT efforts globally for the last 14 of her 20 years there.

[8] While serving as wing commander, Courter played a pivotal role in creating a new National Cadet Special Activity, the Civic Leadership Academy.