Melissa Ballard

Leadership Team | Association of Science and Technology Centers

Melissa Ballard is the Director of Programs at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). She has also served as ASTC’s Senior Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy and as Communications and Community Manager for ASTC’s Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education. Previously, Melissa was Senior STEM Manager at the Afterschool Alliance, a bipartisan advocacy organization, where she worked to identify and support the needs of the afterschool field in offering STEM through research, partnership building, advocacy, and communications. Prior to that, she worked at a children’s science center, developing a variety of STEM programs, training educators, and teaching students. Melissa has a background in industrial and operations engineering and liberal studies, earning a BSE and a BGS from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.