Melissa is a human rights lawyer, advocate, and evaluation specialist with extensive experience working with academics, policymakers, and NGO partners across the international human rights ecosystem, particularly in Latin America and Asia. She previously directed the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law at American University, and she has held research and advisory positions with the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, and the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. She has an AB in Comparative Politics from Princeton University, and a JD/LLM in International Comparative Law from Cornell Law School.