Melody Barnes is co-director for Policy and Public Affairs for the Democracy Initiative, an interdisciplinary teaching, research and engagement effort led by the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.  She is a Professor of Practice at the Miller Center and Distinguished Fellow at the School of Law.  A co-founder of the domestic strategy firm MB² Solutions LLC, Barnes has spent over 25 years crafting public policy on a wide range of domestic issues.

Barnes was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Administration of President Barack Obama. She was also Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Her experience includes an appointment as Director of Legislative Affairs for the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and serving as Assistant Counsel to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. Barnes began her career as an attorney with Shearman & Sterling in New York City.

Barnes earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with honors in history and her J.D. from the University of Michigan.  Currently, she serves on several corporate, non-profit and philanthropic boards of directors.

The latest from Melody Barnes:

Invest in What Works Video Series – Profile Video, Results for America, Robert Doar, July 14, 2016 (video)

“Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever),” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Melody Barnes & Paul Schmitz, February 18, 2016 – (printable version)

“Raising the Bar for Student Success,” Roll Call, Melody Barnes & John Bridgeland, August 4, 2014 – (printable version)

Moneyball for Government – Continuous Learning, Results for America, Melody Barnes, October 17, 2013 (video)

“Congress should invest in success,” Politico, Melody Barnes & John Bridgeland, January 9, 2013 – (printable version)