MELANIE BUFORD, PHD
Re(Imagining) Career Education
ABOUT MELANIE
Melanie Buford (she/her) is an Author, Career and Leadership Consultant, and Teaching Specialist for the Leadership Minor at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. She has been conducting research and teaching for 15 years, strengthening innovation and equity in career development. In 2020, Melanie led the editing team of Mapping the Future of Undergraduate Career Education - an international effort to evolve career preparation in higher education. Her work has been featured on EdSurge, Puttylike, Truity, and Happen to Your Career. Melanie is currently working on a popular press leadership anthology, to be released in 2025.
Melanie received Graduate Student Research Awards from the National and Minnesota Career Development Associations for her dissertation research on racial equity in university career centers (2024). She received the Kenneth B. Hoyt Career Education Practitioner Award (2021), and the Ralph W. Tyler Award for outstanding research and publication (2019). The YWCA recognized her as a Rising Star (2016). She earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and her Ed.M. in Human Development from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Research Summary.
Melanie received Graduate Student Research Awards from the National and Minnesota Career Development Associations for her dissertation research on racial equity in university career centers (2024). She received the Kenneth B. Hoyt Career Education Practitioner Award (2021), and the Ralph W. Tyler Award for outstanding research and publication (2019). The YWCA recognized her as a Rising Star (2016). She earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and her Ed.M. in Human Development from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Research Summary.
"[Melanie] is the embodiment of professional excellence in career coaching and wise career planning advice. She has a strong understanding of industries, as well as different jobs within industries. She is also incredibly insightful about peoples' gifts and talents – and therefore able to help people figure out what would be good and joyful matches for who they are and what their strengths are."
