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Business Leaders, Experts

Melanie Allen

Program Director at Black Farmer Fund
Melanie Allen

Melanie Allen (she/her/hers) serves as the Program Director for the Black Farmer Fund. She is passionate about pushing forward efforts that create a future where black farmers and residents take control of local food systems, and have access to healthy, affordable and sustainable food.

Melanie has worked on the intersection of climate change, agriculture, human rights, and international policy for nearly a decade, specifically through her work with Conservation International, Amnesty International, and Les Jardins Chez Marlene.

Most recently, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Benin, studying how environmentally-induced migration was impacting the livelihoods of yam farmers.

She holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources from the University of Delaware and a Masters degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University. Melanie currently sits on the Advisory Board for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UC Santa Cruz and is a member of the IUCN Specialist Group on Local Economies, Communities and Nature. She is a 2015 Robert & Patricia Switzer Fellow and 2018 Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace.