Melissa leads impact evaluation for YouthForce NOLA. Melissa has over 20 years of experience in local government, higher education, and nonprofits, specializing in performance management, analytics, and evaluation.

Prior to her current role, Melissa served as a Director at the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University. She led the organization's efforts on the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ City Data Alliance, an initiative to help mayors and their senior teams from cities across the Americas to develop data strategies, accelerate their data practice, and deliver exceptional results for residents. Before that, Melissa served as the Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability in the City of New Orleans, where she led performance management, analytics, and other data-driven projects to drive evidence-based decision-making across City departments. She also worked at the Data Center in New Orleans.

Melissa holds a Bachelors in Political Science and a Ph.D. in International Development from Tulane University, where she is an adjunct faculty member in the Masters in Public Administration program. She is the proud parent of two New Orleans public school students. 

Contact Melissa at melissas@youthforcenola.org