About

Melanie Mitros, PhD, Chief Operating Officer

Joining the organization as a consultant in 2021, Dr. Melanie Mitros has vast experience leading, funding and consulting with nonprofits, communities, and foundations.  As a pragmatic and compassionate leader, Dr. Mitros brings skills in relationship navigation, project management, and results-based facilitation to the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute team.

Over the last 20+ years, Dr. Mitros’ passion for health has broadened to engage philanthropy, nonprofits, for-profits and communities to mobilize public-private partnerships where equitable outcomes are not predicted by race, education or status. Dr. Mitros has championed inclusive and trust-based grantmaking, chaired funder collaboratives, influenced state policy and regulation, nurtured cross team racial equity conversations and trainings, and developed systems and processes to implement more equitable investments.  She utilizes an inside-outside approach to leverage assets and accelerate change while establishing accountability through strong relationships and transparency.

From 2015-2021, Dr. Mitros was Vitalyst Health Foundation’s Director of Strategic Community Partnerships where she worked with coalitions and community boards identifying timely and relevant topics to establish strategic alliances for effective change initiatives.  As the lead for Vitalyst’s grantmaking, she championed a movement towards participatory grantmaking through a health equity lens and implementation of ongoing learning for grantees.  Dr. Mitros was the founding Director of the Arizona Living Well Institute in 2010, a program of Empowerment Systems, Inc. where she engaged public and private partners to build a statewide infrastructure for effective promotion and delivery of evidence-based health promotion programs.

In 2021, Dr. Mitros launched MPW Consulting LLC to provide strategic advocacy and partnership development leading to the co-creation of essential conditions for collaborations and systems transformation.  MPW Consulting is based in Birmingham, AL with current project partners in multiple states.  Dr. Mitros holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Wellness, M.S. from Wake Forest University in Health & Exercise Science, and B.S. from Middle Tennessee State University in Athletic Training.

Melanie Mitros, PhD

Chief Operating Officer