With more than three decades of experience in workforce development and human services programs, Melissa Wavelet became MDRC's Director of State and Local Strategy in June 2025. In this new role, Wavelet will work with state and local government agencies to develop new projects and strategic initiatives that span MDRC’s policy areas. She contributes to MDRC’s priority-setting efforts across the research, policy, and funding landscapes to build and apply evidence that improves people’s lives. Within MDRC, she works with fellow research and evidence-to-practice specialists to nurture important work with government partners and expand its impact.
Wavelet joined MDRC as a senior fellow in April 2019 after serving in executive roles in Colorado, Wisconsin, and New York City government agencies since 2005. She brings leadership experience designing, implementing, and continuously improving programs and policies that support families. At MDRC, she leverages her government experiences to advance data use in public sector agencies by building data analytics capacity. She is currently the project director for the TANF Data Collaborative 2.0 and co-project director for the State IMPACT Collaborative. She was the coordinator of the 30-month state agency pilot for the TANF Data Innovation Initiative and recently authored the TANF Data Collaborative Pilot Initiative Final Report and The Five Phases of Successful Data Analytics: TANF Data Collaborative Pilot Resources Toolkit. Wavelet holds a B.A in political science and Spanish from Marquette University, and an MPP in public management from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
