Melanie is the Head of Family Office Resources (FOR) Field Engagement and oversees FOR's Generalist and Associate teams that manage the delivery of all UHNW resources to the firm's wealthiest clients, including estate and trust planning, family governance, wealth education and philanthropic advisory. She is also the President of Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust (GIFT), the firm’s Global Community Foundation, and oversees Philanthropy Management's advisory services and philanthropic platforms.
Melanie is an entrepreneur. She has guided Philanthropy Management from a small startup to a business advising on hundreds of billions of dollars of philanthropic resources annually. In 2023, in partnership with Morgan Stanley @ Work, Melanie launched a donor-advised fund platform for companies bringing the benefit of philanthropy to the workplace. In 2018, she launched MS GIFT Cures, a novel life sciences philanthropic accelerator, reimagining the strategy of getting drug discoveries from the laboratory to patients. In December 2000, Melanie launched Morgan Stanley GIFT, the firm’s global donor-advised fund, which has received over $9.5 billion in contributions and made in excess of $4.4 billion in grants. In 2012, she launched Foundation Management Services, a philanthropic advisory and administrative platform for corporate and private foundations, and created the firm’s Nonprofit and Endowment Consulting Services and Nonprofit Professional and Board Placement Services.
Melanie is a convenor. She has designed and facilitated hundreds of intimate and large conferences, salons and donor circles around the globe. Commencing in June 2016, her team hosted The Exchange NYC, Exchange West and the Co Lab Summits, live and
virtual conferences, in New York City and Los Angeles, on scaling social good through philanthropy and impact investing. These convenings focused on racial equality; creating a cancer-free economy; Jewish, Catholic and Christian values; food insecurity; sanitation; water crisis; and ending Alzheimer’s, resulting in several billion dollars of philanthropic capital moving into philanthropy and impact investments.
Melanie is a thought leader. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the 2021 United Cerebral Palsy National Chair Award; was named a 2017 MAKER, recognizing women of accomplishment across multiple fields of wealth management; the 2015 Phenomenal Woman of Power Award from the Metropolitan College of New York; the 2015 Role Model not Runway Model recipient; the 2014 Rotary Club Humanitarian of the Year; and the 2013 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Perseverance Award. A frequent speaker, Melanie has been a guest lecturer at universities and institutions across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. As a widely recognized expert in philanthropy, her ideas and views are featured in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron’s, Dow Jones Asset Management, Bloomberg, Investment News, Financial Times, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has been interviewed on Good Morning America, CNBC Closing Bell, CBS News and Nonprofit Radio, among many others.
Melanie is a tireless advocate. In addition to being the President of Morgan Stanley GIFT since 2015, Melanie serves on many civic, education and health care boards, including the Association of Professional Institutional Consultants, Inwood Charities and Metropolitan College of New York. Melanie is the former board President of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, former Treasurer of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, and former board member of The People’s Portfolio and SHAUN Foundation for Girls.
Melanie holds a B.A. from Binghamton University and a J.D. from Quinnipiac University. Prior to moving to the financial services industry, she was a practicing estate tax attorney in New York City. She lives in Tribeca, New York City, with her husband and two boys, and has a passion for golf, marathons, triathlons and pickleball, which she competes in to raise awareness and funding to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
