Melissa has been a Guardian ad Litem since 2009, serving in two counties. Melissa mentors new guardians, she is a co-facilitator for the Guardian ad Litem training program and has active cases. She transferred as a Guardian ad Litem to New Hanover County after moving to Wilmington with her husband and three children.

Melissa started out in nursing and worked with mentally challenged adults for several years. Even though she decided she didn’t like the clinical side of nursing, she loved the nurturing side. Melissa retired in 2014 as a VP of Sales for a technology company to take care of her terminally ill mother-in-law and felt it was also the time to get back to do what she loved the most, helping others. She is a Chief Communications Officer for a non-profit agency that offers services to empower parents with behaviorally challenged children and is a trained facilitator for The Parent Project. Melissa has held multiple board positions for several non-profits over the past 25, is a founding member of the Wrightsville Beach School Foundation, is a grade level advisor for the National Charity League, but feels being a Guardian ad Litem is her calling.