Melissa Sullivan, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Department of Energy

Sullivan is a WeLead2008 alum and last spoke about earned media to WeLead2025. In her role as a medie relations expert for the DOE and the EPA, she acts as a liaison between the agency, the public, and the press. Before joining EPA, she served two consecutive AmeriCorps terms in her hometown of Miami, FL, first supporting disaster recovery efforts and later assisting veteran caregivers. Previously, Sullivan worked as a Legislative Assistant for the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and a fundraiser for U.S. Congressional candidates in several states.

Sullivan enjoys writing Op-Eds, running marathons, and volunteering for The Honor Flight Network in her free time. Her opinion writing has been featured in The Washington Post, The South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Miami Herald, and The Baltimore Sun. She is privileged to have accompanied over 20 veterans of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War on their Honor Flights to Washington, D.C.Sullivan graduated from the School of Public Affairs at American University.