Who is Melinda?

Melinda lives in Washington, D.C. and self-identifies as a current consumer of mental health services, who is in active recovery from serious mental illnesses, including Bipolar Disorder, Bulimia, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Suicidal Ideation.  Melinda developed a passion for advocacy, including mental health advocacy from her own experiences healing from her serious mental illnesses utilizing the D.C. mental/behavioral health system and her law school’s counseling center.

Melinda is the Principal Consultant of RoyHas LLC and focuses on transforming systems into human experiences and language. She has a passion for all things public health, including policy, education, and advocacy. Melinda has experience in multiple industry sectors and consults with a variety of stakeholders to help organizations, communities, and individuals evolve above their current circumstances and/or barriers. More information about RoyHas LLC is available at www.royhas.com. 

She creatively shares her recovery stories at www.resourcehack.com using multiple technology platforms to promote mental health awareness. Melinda shares her unique experiences as a black woman, an exchange student, traveler, law student, comedian, professor, military brat, researcher, provider, advocate, speaker, and psych patient. Her ease in talking to people from all walks of life, genuine empathy, and personal vulnerability set the stage for deep, real conversations between her and those on her podcast, “Couch Sessions about Mental Illness,” due to launch soon.

Melinda is the former Executive Director of a new consumer-focused activity center, Our Door Community Wellness Center, a partnership between D.C. Department of Behavioral Health (DBH)and Green Door Behavioral Health. As founder and writer of Our Door’s funding grants, she led the development of the Center’s programs. Melinda previously worked as a Special Projects Coordinator for DBH’s Office of Consumer and Family Affairs. She recently received a Master of Public Health (Health Policy) at The George Washington University (GWU) Milken Institute School of Public Health in May 2016. She has a law degree from William & Mary School of Law.

Melinda is a Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. She also dabbles in stand-up comedy, sings really bad karaoke and creatively shares her recovery stories using multiple mediums. She is Veggie's Producer and Manager, an Independent, Short Film in current development.

Melinda is active throughout the community in various activities that promote mental/behavioral health prevention, recovery, and resiliency. She believes that nonclinical support services in the community are as essential to a person’s recovery and resiliency as clinical services. She continues to be an active volunteer, speaker, and advocate for various organizations.  She has coordinated and spoken/presented at conferences, local and nationwide, promoting the vision that recovery and resiliency are possible. Melinda is a Board Member of the DC Chapter's National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI DC), and co-facilitates the Wednesday night mixed, support group.

Click here for Melinda's full resume.