Melen joined the Greater Washington Community Foundation in 2017 and has spent nearly a decade working at the intersection of strategy, program development, and operations in philanthropy. She has led impactful grantmaking efforts, strengthened funding collaboratives, and played a pivotal role in launching major initiatives including the Community Resilience Initiative, The Resilience Fund, and the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.

Currently serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO, Melen drives strategic priorities and special projects, manages organizational communications on behalf of the CEO, and liaises with the Board of Trustees, staff, and community partners. In this role, she ensures organizational alignment, facilitates decision-making, and coordinates efforts that advance the Foundation’s mission and long-term goals.

Melen brings more than 10 years of experience spanning philanthropy, program development, communications, and fundraising. Before joining the Foundation, she held positions at the Brookings Institution, focusing on international education initiatives, and completed fellowships with She Should Run, a nonprofit working to elect female candidates to public office.

She was selected in 2017 for the Leadership Center for Excellence’s Young Professionals Program and, in 2022, joined the board of Young, Black, and Giving Back, a nonprofit that builds capacity and funding for Black-led and Black-benefiting organizations. Melen holds a B.A. in International Development with minors in African and Middle Eastern Studies from James Madison University and completed a certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at the University of Maryland, College Park in May 2025, where she also served as a Do Good Fellow.