CEO | Co-Founder

Melody strategically combines her background in design and education to facilitate opportunities for youth to create communities where they thrive. After receiving a Bachelor's of Architecture at University of Tennessee, Melody followed an interest in education and pursued a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction. After teaching high school for seven years, Melody pursued a role at the Civic Design Center where she develops curriculum, youth programming, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) experiences that engage young people in shaping the world around them. After seeing the power of design thinking and YPAR as facilitation methods of youth leadership in their communities, Melody looks forward to working with adult leaders through her work with Youth at the Table to include more young people in decision-making processes.

melody@youthatthetable.org

Research Director | Co-Founder

Dr. Katy Morgan is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of the South: Sewanee. She holds a Ph.D. in Community Research and Action from Vanderbilt University. Professor Morgan studies civic and sociopolitical identity development among young people as they take part in efforts to build collective power and promote community wellbeing. As a community-based researcher, she partners with schools and other youth-serving organizations to understand, promote, and sustain empowering community contexts where young people can engage in social change efforts. Her research explores experiential approaches to learning and development in schools and communities, guiding interventions aimed at improving youth outcomes. She also facilitates youth participatory action research collectives, and explores the developmental roots of civic and sociopolitical identity among organizers, activists, and other community leaders.

katy@youthatthetable.org