Hopie Melton

About Hopie Melton

Hopie Melton joins Harris as a Program Associate for the Center for Effective Government (CEG), where she works on special projects such as the Civic Leadership Academy (CLA), supports policy and academic research, and assists in administrative work.

Hopie has worked with various non-profits and organizations in her hometowns of Chicago and St. Louis, doing campaign finance research with Reform for Illinois, research into donor influence with UnKoch My Campus, and community engagement with Planned Parenthood of St. Louis. Additionally, she has worked extensively with such political campaigns and civic engagement causes as BallotReady and UChiVotes within UChicago. Hopie has also previously worked at UChicago as an academic resources intern with Chicago Studies, helping the department build up its website and find ways to explore the city during COVID-19.

A graduate of The College in 2022, Hopie studied public policy and sociology with a French minor and a Chicago studies certificate. While an undergraduate, her academic interests included labor history, gender theory, critical race studies, and urban sociology. Her thesis for her majors was titled “Emotional Labors: Organizing Long-Term Care Workers in Chicago during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”