Mel Harris

A visionary leader from the San Francisco Bay Area, Mel Harris stands at the forefront of philanthropic innovation, dedicating over 15 years to empowering organizations and communities toward meaningful progress. As a thought leader in the non-profit, advocacy, and global fundraising fields, Mel is passionately committed to building dynamic teams that drive transformative change for the LGBTQ+ community while fostering equity and inclusion by building bridges and elevating organizational capacity. 
 
In her previous role as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at GLAAD, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, Mel co-produced the prestigious GLAAD Media Awards in New York and Los Angeles, achieving sold-out venues year after year. Her leadership not only highlighted excellence in LGBTQ+ representation but also forged millions of dollars in revenue growth through impactful partnerships that leveraged strategic alliances from Fortune 100 corporations and iconic family foundations to programmatic connections with media conglomerates and federal policymakers that amplified the voices of historically excluded communities. 
 
Mel’s influence extends beyond the United States. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Cannes Lions, and in Northern Ireland and South Africa, she has championed international philanthropy and transformational relationship-building across partisan lines and social classes. Recruited as the first architect and Head of Global Council Strategy at The Juilliard School, Mel significantly diversified and enhanced the institution’s leadership, global vision, reach, and revenue by creating and rolling out highly successful ambassadorship and board pipeline programs that connected influential leaders from the UN, Sesame Workshop, EMEA, Asia, and beyond. 
 
Her insight has also shaped the University of California, Davis foundation and corporate engagement strategies and the Aggie Square Innovation Hub, where she received the opportunity to team up with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s office to benchmark international partnerships that have the ability to fuel groundbreaking accelerators, while simultaneously achieving revenue growth in critical research fields. 
 
As Chairperson of the DEI Committee on Internal Culture for Development and Alumni Relations, Mel was instrumental in steering initiatives that transformed programming around justice, bias, belonging, and talent pipelines, while advancing accountability across the division. Launching her career in philanthropy in Individual and Planned Giving to resource humans experiencing homelessness, poverty, and the effects of addiction, she understands what it is like to walk beside the people we serve and genuinely listen to the “reasons behind the revenue.” 
 
A proud graduate of the University of Arkansas, Mel resides in Washington, D.C., with her wife, Deanna, and their beloved yet wild crew of rescue pups. She is not only a dedicated professional but also a producer for her spouse’s film production company, which creates screenplays that stimulate societal discourse. Outside of work, Mel is committed to improving her pickleball game when she is able. She also mentors the next generation of fundraising professionals and engages as a keynote speaker with grassroots movements, including The Poor People’s Campaign in Arkansas. Additionally, she enjoys producing her podcast, “Finding Our Way Forward,” volunteering on pediatric medical projects in the Yucatán Peninsula at Hospital de la Amistad Corea-México, and collaborating as a previously ordained minister to establish affirming safe spaces for queer people of faith in the Mid-South. 
 
Mel Harris is more than a fundraiser; she is a passionate advocate and a diligent force for excellence and progress. Dedicated to uplifting communities, she inspires enduring change through the power of storytelling that captures hearts and compels people to invest and act.