Melissa also serves as Program Manager for Deloitte’s engagement with the 30% Club, a coalition of U.S. chairmen and CEOs committed to increasing the number of women on corporate boards, and leads the 30% Club’s U.S. public policy efforts. Prior to Deloitte, Melissa worked as a public affairs strategist at The Glover Park Group in Washington, DC, and then served on a number of federal, state, and local political campaigns. She started her career in politics as an intern for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign and then for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on Capitol Hill.

Melissa and her brother David lead a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, called the Blechman Foundation, to provide early-stage funding for neuroprotective research for Parkinson’s disease in honor of their mother. Together, they will complete their sixth grant in 2016; the results of their last two grants have been published in leading medical journals and have materially advanced the understanding of neurodegeneration.

Melissa received a BA in Political Science from Emory University and an MPA in International Development from NYU.