Melissa Washington

Navy Veteran

President & Founder

Women Veterans Alliance

Melissa A. Washington, a Navy Veteran is the CEO and Founder of Women Veterans Alliance. She is a disabled veteran small business owner, speaker, author, and award winner who is connecting women veterans across the nation.

Melissa proudly served in the Navy and rather than shoulder the burden of a dual-service family, she decided to leave the military early to pursue a career while her husband spent 21 years on active duty in the United State Marine Corps.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management and transitioned into a successful career in recruiting and human resources for more than 10 years working for both boutique agencies and global Fortune 500 companies.

Melissa was laid off from her job in 2009 due to a failing economy, marking the beginning of a nearly two-year journey and career reinvention that allowed her to use her experience to help others. It all started with holding LinkedIn workshops for job seekers at her dining room table then speaking at venues across the nation. In 2011, she started Melissa Washington, Inc. which offers consulting services to businesses and individuals using LinkedIn for researching, recruiting, job seeking and collaborating. Her journey, took a little detour for 4 years as she worked at LinkedIn, planning Global Corporate Meeting & Events.  2014 authored Get Back to Work: Smart & Savvy Real-World Strategies to Make Your Next Career Move.

In 2015 she got women veterans together to meet at a local Mexican restaurant where Women Veterans Alliance started!  Not long after, partnered with James R. Morrison Photography for the "What Does a Woman Veteran Look Like?" Portrait Project.  In 2018 Melissa founded Women Veterans Giving, Inc.

She has been featured in Sacramento Business Journal as well as other magazines and newspapers. Sought out speaker as well. Melissa is a go to person for media when it comes to women veterans. TV interviews on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Including a segment on the Dr. Phil Show and Lifetime Channel, The Balancing Act.   Radio includes Sirius XM,  KFBK AM1530,  iHeart,  national podcasts, AM1170 and more.

Her husband of 25 years, Jarrod is a retired Marine  who served in combat in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). They are proud parents to Maya.  Melissa is the daughter of Bronze Star Army Vietnam War Veteran.