23 Facts About Melody Barnes

Melody C Barnes was born on April 29,1964 and is an American lawyer and political advisor.

Formerly an aide and chief counsel to Senator Edward M Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barnes later worked at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, before joining Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Melody Barnes was born on April 29,1964, and grew up in Richmond, Virginia.

Melody Barnes earned her BA with honors in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986 and her JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1989.

Melody Barnes is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Melody Barnes then worked at the Raben Group, where she lobbied for the American Civil Liberties Union, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, American Constitution Society, and Center for Reproductive Rights.

Melody Barnes served as director of legislative affairs at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and as assistant counsel of the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the House Judiciary Committee.

From 2003 to July 2008, Melody Barnes was at the Center for American Progress, a think tank.

Melody Barnes was executive vice president for policy at the center from 2005 to 2008.

Melody Barnes was involved in the launch of the center's Initiative on Faith and Public Policy.

Melody Barnes worked under CEO John D Podesta, who later served as co-chairman of the Obama-Biden transition team.

Melody Barnes was senior domestic policy advisor to Senator Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Melody Barnes served as co-director of the Agency Review Working Group for the transition.

In October 2009, Melody Barnes played golf with Obama at Fort Belvoir, becoming the first woman to play golf with the president during Obama's presidency.

Melody Barnes was one of several African-American women in important Obama administration positions, along with Valerie Jarrett, Mona Sutphen, Susan Rice and Cassandra Butts.

Melody Barnes chaired the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, which in May 2010 released a 124-page report with 70 recommendations to combat the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States.

In November 2011, the White House announced that Melody Barnes would be leaving.

Melody Barnes joined the boards of directors of Ventas, Inc in 2014, and Booz Allen Hamilton in 2015.

Melody Barnes is chair of the Aspen Institute's Forum for Community Solutions.

In 2013, Barnes has been vice provost for global student leadership initiatives at New York University, and senior fellow at NYU's Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Melody Barnes is co-director of University of Virginia's Democracy Initiative, a broad research, teaching and public affairs initiative tackling the most pressing issues facing democracies around the world.

Melody Barnes is a professor of practice at UVA's Miller Center, after having served since 2016 as a visiting professor and senior fellow there and a distinguished fellow at the School of Law.

In 2007, Melody Barnes was featured in a Washingtonian magazine list of ten well-dressed Washington women.