Melvette Hill is a civic leader with over 25 years of experience engaging families in communities through her various roles in corporate, government, and non-profit organizations. She is a passionate advocate, and her work thrives in civic engagement, leadership development, and public policy.
Melvette is the Executive Director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity (CWCSEO). She recently lead the Parent Leadership Training Institute in Connecticut and worked with the National Parent Leadership Institute (NPLI) on policy and partnership strategies.
Melvette has served as a thought leader in national and regional initiatives with non-profits, philanthropy, and government, including the Administration for Children and Families in organizing childcare forums, child tax credit trusted messenger strategies for states, and the Whole Family Approach to Jobs Initiative. Additionally, she has been a national leader and voice in the 2Gen approach, partnering with the Aspen Institute on the 2Gen approach and their Weave The Social Fabric initiative. In partnership with the National Parent Leadership Institute, she co-creates and moderates parent policy tables with parent leaders across the country and works on various projects bringing parent voice to systems change and organizational capacity building.
Melvette is a thought leader in Connecticut at the community, agency, and state government levels, advising on parent leadership and civic engagement. This includes roles with the Governor’s Workforce Council DEI Committee, the Office of Early Childhood’s (Parent Cabinet & Teen Advisory Council), the CT State Department of Education’s Commissioner’s Roundtable, CT’s SEL Collaborative, University of Connecticut, CT’s 2Gen Advisory Board, Office of the State Treasurer (Baby Bonds Parent Advisory) and Working Cities Initiatives. She partners with the Connecticut Conference of Municipals on their annual Representation Matters symposium, which encourages the BIPOC communities to run for office. Melvette is a national trainer and presenter on family economic mobility, family voice, and civic engagement.
Throughout her career, Melvette has collaborated with various national organizations, including the Administration for Children and Families, the National Parent Leadership Institute (NPLI), and the Aspen Institute, to drive policy and systems change, promote civic engagement, and build the capacity of system leaders, policymakers, and families to collaborate on changemaking. She has been instrumental in leading initiatives around childcare, child tax credit strategies, and the 2Gen approach, among others.
Melvette was born and raised in Harlem, growing up in a diverse, culturally and ethnically rich city that was equally segregated. Her early experiences shaped her future views and continue to fuel her passion and commitment for racial equity, social change, and civic engagement. Melvette lives in Danbury with her husband and is the mother of four young adults and grandmother to two grandsons.
