Melissa Morel has been appointed campaign manager for Sheriff Steve Tompkins’ re-election campaign.
Born and raised in Santiago De Los Caballeros of the Dominican Republic, Morel traveled to the United States and attended high school in Weston, Florida where she was just one of five students chosen to work with the municipal government in the local city hall on such issues as law enforcement, parks and recreation, city planning and more.
Morel enrolled at Boston University where she received her Bachelors and a masters degree in political science, graduating magna cum laude. Working with several campaigns and elected officials along the way, Morel has served in various capacities with the Democratic National Committee, including positions with Democratic National Committee Chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, and former Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray. At each stop, Morel worked to hone her political savvy by immersing herself in a multitude of tasks ranging from sign assignments, dressing and staffing polls, managing wards, organizing stand-outs and events, door knocking, election day reporting, phone banking and a host of other duties through which she achieved a deeper knowledge of the political process from the inside-out.
Eventually landing at MLM Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in Massachusetts local and statewide political fundraising, compliance, marketing and government work, Morel participated as a fellow for a candidate for Boston City Council At-Large and also organized several fundraising events before being introduced to Sheriff Tompkins during his 2014 campaign. For Morel, it was Sheriff Tompkins’ focus on positive change through programming designed to not only prevent the men and women incarcerated in his facilities from returning once they are released back into the community, but to make them better able to care for themselves and their families with employable skills that attracted her to the campaign.
