Melissa serves as the Chief Program Officer at Connect Humanity, leading philanthropic program strategy and managing our grants portfolio.
Melissa brings over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and human rights, designing grantmaking programs to grow the public interest tech space. Most recently, Melissa was the Managing Director at Simply Secure, a non-profit organization working to change who technology serves by centering people in the tech design process. She led strategic operations and focused on increasing resources for civil society to address challenges like data governance and critical digital infrastructure.
Previously, Melissa designed global grantmaking and leadership programs at Mozilla Foundation, funding $25 million in initiatives to strengthen the civil society tech space. She was also Co-Chair of the working group at the World Economic Forum to grow industry and government collaboration with civil society for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She holds a Master’s of International Education Policy from Harvard University.