Melanie L. Campbell

Campbell was born in Mims, Florida.{{Cite web |title=Melanie Campbell: Civic Champion Seeks Change on the Ground |url=https://wordinblack.com/2023/11/melanie-campbell-civic-champion-seeks-change-on-the-ground/ |last=McKinney |first=Gwen |website=WordInBlack.com |date=November 15, 2023 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}} Her mother taught in Brevard County Public Schools in the 1970s, and Campbell credits her as being instrumental in teaching Black history in Florida classrooms.{{Cite news |title=National campaign hopes to energize Black voters in South Florida ahead of primaries |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article280725405.html |last=Habersham |first=Raisa |work=Miami Herald |date=October 20, 2023 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}} Campbell recounts one of her childhood memories from the 1950s as hiding on the floor while her father stood guard outside, fearing a visit from the Ku Klux Klan, which was still active in Florida at the time.{{Cite news |title='This is how democracy crumbles': Melanie Campbell on the fight to defend Black votes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/this-is-how-democracy-crumbles-melanie-campbell-on-the-fight-to-defend-black-votes/2020/11/02/6d2a4884-1d0a-11eb-b532-05c751cd5dc2_story.html |last=Williams |first=Vanessa |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 3, 2020 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}}

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Clark Atlanta University in 1983. While in attendance, she served as a student organizer for the NAACP.{{Cite web |title=Melanie L. Campbell |url=https://womensmediacenter.com/shesource/expert/melanie-l.-campbell, |website=Women's Media Center |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}}

Upon graduating, Campbell started in a corporate job but soon returned to a civic role, working for Maynard Jackson, the then-mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. Campbell was responsible for hiring Stacey Abrams into the office of youth services.

In 1995, Campbell relocated to Washington, D.C. to work for the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP). During this time, Campbell was mentored by civil rights activist Dorothy I. Height. Campbell cites Height for the emphasis she placed on universal respect across generations: "She knew youth are our future, but never missed an opportunity to salute the Sheroes on whose shoulders she stood". Campbell became the executive director of the NCBCP in 2000 and went on to become president and CEO in 2011.

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In 2004, Campbell led a voter outreach campaign for the NCBCP, working with both the NAACP and the National Urban League in a push to get more African-American voters to the polls.{{Cite magazine |title=Blacks Gear Up for '04 Election |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkMEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22melanie+l.+campbell%22&pg=PA9 |last=Chew |first=Cassie M. |magazine=The Crisis |volume=110 |issue=6 |pages=9–10 |date=November 2003 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}} Campbell's efforts are credited with registering 200,000 voters in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 national elections.{{Cite web |title=Today's Freedom Fighters |url=https://newsone.com/4507376/freedom-fighters/ |last=Greene |first=Teale |website=newsOne.com |date=February 13, 2023 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}

In the summer of 2021, both the NCBCP and the National Council of Negro Women staged protests against ongoing proposed voter restrictions, where Campbell was arrested during an act of civil disobedience by Capitol Police during the protests.{{Cite magazine |title=Black Women Leading the Fight For Voting Rights |url=https://www.essence.com/news/black-women-leading-the-fight-for-voting-rights/ |last=Owens |first=Donna M. |magazine=Essence |date=July 23, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2024 |language=en}} Campbell was arrested again at a protest calling for passage of the For the People Act.{{Cite news |title=Women of color lead the fight for voting rights 101 years after suffrage |url=https://19thnews.org/2021/08/john-lewis-voting-rights-act-suffrage-anniversary/ |last=Haines |first=Errin |work=The 19th |date=August 18, 2021 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}

Campbell joined other Black leaders to push President Joe Biden to select Kamala Harris, a Black woman, as his running mate in 2020. Campbell was involved in the effort to restore voting rights to convicted felons in Florida. She also runs the Black Women's Roundtable, an organization that uses civic engagement to better empower Black women to tackle social issues within their communities.{{Cite news |title=9 Black Activists Who Are Fighting Injustice in the US |url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/9-black-activists-who-are-fighting-injustice-and-f/ |last1=McCarthy |first1=Joe |last2=Gralki |first2=Pia |website=Global Citizen Festival |date=February 24, 2017 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}

Campbell spoke at the first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, introducing the Rev. Jesse Jackson.{{Cite news |title=Kamala Harris Ignites DNC with Surprise Appearance and Biden, Dems Call for Fierce Defense of Democracy and Working-Class Values |url=https://communityjournal.net/kamala-harris-ignites-dnc-with-surprise-appearance-and-biden-dems-call-for-fierce-defense-of-democracy-and-working-class-values/ |last=Brown |first=Stacy M. |newspaper=Milwaukee Community Journal |date=August 20, 2024 |access-date=August 24, 2024 |language=en}}

• In 2000, Campbell was recognized as one of the Top Forty Under Forty Emerging Leaders in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web |title=Melanie Campbell |url=https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/melanie-campbell |website=Harvard Institute of Politics |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}
• In 2010, Campbell received the National Urban League's Women of Power Award for her "impact on voter engagement and reform, her leadership after hurricane Katrina, and her ability to bring together powerful women"{{cite magazine |date=February 2022 |title=Present-Day Leaders |url=https://assets.nationbuilder.com/lwvmaryland/pages/4004/attachments/original/1645275698/Feb_2021_newsletter.pdf?1645275698 |publisher=League of Women Voters |magazine=The Voter |volume=2021-2022 |issue=7 |page=3 |access-date=May 28, 2024}}
• In 2017, Campbell was featured in Essence Magazine's "100 Woke Women"{{Cite web |title=NCBCP President National Convener of Black Women's Roundtable, Melanie Campbell Spoke at the AI Insight Forum |url=https://ebonynewstoday.com/2023/11/ncbcp-president-national-convener-of-black-womens-roundtable-melanie-campbell-spoke-at-the-ai-insight-forum/ |last=Mallard |first=Sonya |website=EbonyNewsToday.com |date=November 20, 2023 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}
• In 2021, Campbell was inducted into National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame for her work on civil rights{{Cite web |title=2021 NBCA Hall of fame Inductee – Civil Rights |url=https://nbcahof.org/melanie-l-campbell/ |website=nbcahof.org |date=September 19, 2021 |access-date=May 28, 2024 |language=en}}

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Category:Living people

Category:20th-century African-American women

Category:21st-century African-American women

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights

Category:African-American activists

Category:American chief operating officers

Category:American democracy activists

Category:American nonprofit chief executives

Category:Clark Atlanta University alumni

Category:Delta Sigma Theta members

Category:People from Mims, Florida

Category:American women civil rights activists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)