Melissa Lockhart Fortner is Vice President of Investor Relations at Global Partnerships, an impact-first investor dedicated to expanding opportunity for people living in poverty. She is former Vice President at the Pacific Council, where she oversaw strategy and planning in partnership with the executive team and the board of directors, focusing on institutional health, long-term strategy and impact, financial planning, board and donor relations, and communications.

Melissa has previously worked as a researcher in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California and a nonresident expert and blogger for the Foreign Policy Association, following economic and political developments in Latin America and assessing Washington’s policy toward Cuba. She has been quoted by NPR, the Associated Press, and Fox News Latino, and her writing has appeared in outlets like the Christian Science Monitor and Real Clear World. Melissa has studied and worked in Peru, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Sweden. She holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Pomona College and an MBA from the Wharton School. Melissa lives in Seattle with her husband Jeff and sons Cody and Jake.