GreenLight Fund named Melissa Luna as the executive director for its flagship site, GreenLight Boston. Since 2004, GreenLight Boston has invested $8.5 million to import eleven organizations on track to annually reach 75,000 low-income children and families by the end of year. Luna’s appointment comes at a time when GreenLight Fund is deepening its local community engagement and extending its partnerships with industry, entrepreneurial and philanthropic leaders in Boston.
Melissa comes to GreenLight Fund with a track record of working in low-income communities of color as a nonprofit and philanthropic leader. Most recently, she served as the Managing Director for Demand Abolition, a national program of Ambassador Swanee Hunt’s foundation, bringing research and innovative tactics to local communities in an effort to curb the harm caused by sex trafficking. While at Demand Abolition, Melissa oversaw the foundation’s multi-million-dollar investment to align federal policy work with survivor advocacy and local solutions in ten urban communities. Prior to Demand Abolition, Melissa’s career started at Sociedad Latina, a community-based nonprofit providing holistic range of services for thousands of Latino youth and families to ensure a successful pathway to college and viable careers. She founded the organization’s youth community organizing program, leading successful policy campaigns on the local and state levels in education, public health, and community development.
Melissa has been a proud resident of the Boston area since arriving here in 1999 to attend Harvard University, where she earned a B.A. in Government in 2003. She is an alumna of the Institute of Nonprofit Practice and a board member of the Phillips Brooks House Association and March Forward Massachusetts. Melissa has been a proud resident of the Boston area since arriving here in 1999 to attend Harvard University, where she earned a B.A. in Government in 2003.
