As the Assistant Secretary for the Women's Prison Division for the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), Melissa is focused on strategic initiatives that create a humanistic approach to prison operations. She has served in the DOC for over 33 years in many different operational capacities. Her true passion is improving prison environments by operationalizing the core principles of gender responsivity, reimaging prison with a trauma informed lens, and improving sexual safety.

Melissa has worked in many different capacities at 5 DOC locations in her career including: Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, Correctional Program Manager and Dean of Correctional Education. During her tenure she was the accreditation manager for American Correctional Association, was the Prison Rape Elimination Compliance Manager for two different prison environments and she has implemented trauma informed programming. Her passion is improving the prison environment for the safety of staff and those in her care and custody. Melissa earned a Master's in Social Work degree from Walla Walla University and has a minor in drug and alcohol counseling from Eastern Washington University. Melissa is an adjunct faculty for Heritage University.