Melanie Morelos (she/her/they) is the Government Affairs Strategist at The Greenlining Institute, where she advances the organization’s legislative priorities and develops strategies to achieve them. Melanie brings more than 5 years of experience serving the California State Legislature, where she crafted policies aimed at increasing affordable housing production, expanding employment leave for women and LGBTQ+ communities, and reducing gun violence in high risk neighborhoods. Her most recent role was Legislative Director to Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, where together they started a working conversation about how social housing could be achieved in California, negotiated high stakes legislative priorities like workplace vaccine mandates, and advanced the Assemblywoman into her highest role as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development. Melanie is a daughter of farmer workers, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities. She believes housing is a human right, and that equity should be accessible to low-income families, women and people of color. When Melanie isn’t working, she enjoys rock climbing, socializing with friends, playing fetch with her dog, Grace, and planning her next trip out of the country.