Melanie Buford is a Writer, Editor and Instructor of leadership education at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Her research exploring the intersections among personality, identity and the pursuit of meaningful work has been featured in both academic and practitioner journals, and by popular career outlets such as Puttylike.com, Truity.com and the Happen to Your Career Podcast series. In 2019, she received the Ralph W. Tyler Award for a research study examining the efficacy of career courses on Millennial and Gen-Z students.

Melanie has worked for a variety of universities and non-profit organizations as a professor, career coach and data analyst. She currently manages the Field Experience course level at the University of Minnesota's undergraduate Leadership Minor program, connecting nearly 200 students per year with community service-learning projects.

Melanie is developing a novel in the fantasy genre, and explores themes of identity and meaning-making through character-driven fiction.

She has a master's degree in Human Development from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Wesleyan University.