Melanie’s life-long dedication to social justice, hands on international policy research and private sector entrepreneurialism fuel her passionate dedication to multi-sector collaboration, and functional vision of The Global Summit.

At 20, she began advancing theories linking population, environmental scarcity and poverty, advocating multi-sector collaboration and community empowerment.

 

Inspired by research and related programs in Africa, she founded TGS producing organization, Empowerment Works (EW) in 2001. Her training in transformational mediation and international negotiations further contributed to EW’s 7 Stages of sustainable development & PIE approach.

Melanie advances The Global Summit holistic approach through workshops and speaking at international conferences. Highlights include the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto as co-Founder of the Coalition for a Sustainable Africa; unveiling her Population Theory at the 2004 Sustainable Resources Conference in Boulder; presenting PIE and moderating at the 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth, the 2008 Global Sound Conference and Lightning in a Bottle Eco-Festival, May 2008.

In April 2007, Melanie produced the first national press-conference on Colony Collapse Disorder, "Bees, Bio diversity and Food Security" which brought world renowned expert insights on sustainable agriculture, critical food security and bio-diversity to the mainstream media via immediate coverage in the LA Times and Live on NBC.

In concert with building Empowerment Works’ grass-roots programs in Africa, Melanie has deepened her private sector insights as Founder/CEO of BioNova™ Medical Corporation, through which she has authored various patents HIV/AIDS treatments and other life threatening diseases, managed treatment protocols in Africa and research with City of Hope and UCLA AIDS Institute.

Before he passed away, Ms. St.James worked closely with her father whose environmental technologies struggled to reach their potential in the face of vested interests while ultimately coming to life through Eco-Motors, LLC, a leading edge clean technology corporation. The need to expose what works best and disseminate it for the common good is one of Melanie's core interests in The Global Summit.

Melanie holds a Masters degree of Public Administration in International Management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and BA in International Relations & Diplomacy from Schiller International University in Madrid, Spain.

 

A global citizen at heart, Melanie speaks French and Spanish and has lived and conducted research throughout Asia, Europe, Africa and Central America. Preparing for TGS 2009 in LA, Melanie resides in Venice Beach, California with her dog, Jackson.