AmySue Mertens has held public relations, communications, events planning, and development positions with local direct service and statewide public policy non-profit organizations. She has worked with issues including adult and family literacy, drug-use and ex-offender re-entry, and homelessness and affordable housing. With Extension, she has managed branding strategies for Cook County; media, legislative and organizational outreach; and marketing support to the approximately 100 Cook County staff members. She is currently working on cultivating partnerships, which includes her work on the planning committee for Chicago's Green Festival.

Mertens serves on the boards of CAN-TV, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV), and the West Loop Community Organization. She is serving her second term on the Whitney Young H. S. Local School Council where she chairs the budget/technology committee. Mertens is also a member of the City Club of Chicago, Chicago Women in Government Relations, Publicity Club of Chicago, and the League of Women Voters among others.

She writes a monthly column for the Chicago Journal, and recently ran for the Illinois State Senate in the 5th District. Mertens earned both her bachelor's and master's degree in advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.