Meheret (Mimi) Melles earned her Bachelor's degree this past May in Socio-cultural Anthropology and Public & Community Health, with a minor in International Development & Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, College Park.  During her undergraduate career, she was nominated to serve on the National Steering Committee of the Student Global AIDS Campaign as the International Partnerships Coordinator and later on, earned her position as the National Student Coordinator. During her undergraduate career, she spent two years on Advocates for Youth's International Youth Leadership Council, and started her position as their Program Coordinator for the Youth Activist Network in late July.  Her previous research projects, in collaboration with professors, have been: NGO networks in fragile environments of West Africa; the cultural context of the use of condoms in adolescent females in the United States; and, the vulnerability of HIV infections for South African women in the context of traditional cultures. 

In 22 years, Mimi has spoken at public forums worldwide, particularly on the women's movement, reproductive justice, and global HIV/AIDS policy.  On her free time, she volunteers on the HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) outreach team and as a patient advocate in the pre-natal department of the Whitman Walker Clinic.  In the future, she plans to assist in hospital administration and patient care in her country of origin, Ethiopia.