Melissa is a Senior Associate with Triad and brings with her extensive experience in community development, managing collective impact partnerships, designing and implementing public participation processes, and collaborating with municipalities on neighborhood revitalization efforts. Her work at Triad centers on assisting communities with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) implementation.

Prior to Triad, Melissa most recently served as the Director of Operations for Camden Promise Neighborhood (CPN) at Center for Family Services in Camden, NJ. CPN is a place-based collective impact effort, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and originally based on the model of Harlem Children’s Zone in Harlem, NY. Melissa managed both staff and partners as they collectively built a cradle-to-college/career pipeline of programs and services to support the success of Camden youth and families.

Before moving to New Jersey, Melissa worked for over ten years in the nonprofit sector in New England, including five year as the Community Engagement Director for the Neighborhood Developers, a regional community development corporation located in Chelsea, MA. While there, her work focused on citizen participation, neighborhood planning and revitalization efforts, and affordable housing. Melissa has her Master’s Degree in Community Development and Planning from Clark University in Worcester, MA.

Melissa and her fiancé are proud parents to their two daughters and when not tackling the learning curve that comes with being parents, she enjoys watching football, reading and family outings. Originally from Rhode Island, Melissa loves to traveling to visit family in New England, cheering for the Patriots and taking trips to the shore.