I established the beginnings of my consulting work in 2004 to improve the health of my community one person at a time through individualized exercise therapy. Over the years, my passion for health has broadened to engage philanthropy, nonprofits, for-profits, government, and communities to mobilize public-private partnerships where equitable outcomes are not predicted by race, education or status. Now, I focus on growing strategic partnerships that change systems. MPW Consulting is based in Birmingham, Alabama with current project partners in multiple states including LISC Phoenix, Vitalyst Health Foundation, The Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation, and the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute.
Since 2010, I have championed inclusive and trust-based grant making, chaired multiple funder collaboratives, influenced state regulation and policy change, nurtured cross team conversations and trainings on racial equity, and developed systems and processes to implement more equitable investments. Melanie holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Wellness, M.S. from Wake Forest University in Health & Exercise Science, and B.S. from Middle Tennessee State University in Athletic Training.
Melanie Mitros
Prioritizing trust and regenerative practices for equitable philanthropy, nonprofits, and governments.
Co-creating essential conditions for collaborations to successfully contribute to systems change
Coming together to create change utilizing results-based and neutral facilitation tools
Child Care and Early Learning in Arizona
A Landscape Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities In partnership with LISC Phoenix, MPW Consulting completed the research, key informant interviews, focus groups and report from August 2021-August 2022.
Regardless of where a child receives care—a licensed center, a certified home, or with a family, friend, or neighbor—their brains are developing rapidly from birth to five, so it is critical that the space be safe, inclusive, and support learning. Stabilization grants have enabled facilities to stay open, pay the mortgage/rent, keep utilities on, purchase required personal protective equipment, pay off debt incurred since March 2020, and increase staff salaries and benefits temporarily. Yet, we still face challenges where parents cannot afford quality care, and providers continue to see the cost of quality care and staffing increase. Opportunities exist for Arizona to leverage this last year of pandemic funding to deepen partnerships and collaborations leading to more accessible data for parents and providers to make informed decisions as well as invest in the infrastructure of child care that will sustain beyond the grant dollars. Read the Executive Summary and the full Child Care and Early Learning Landscape Analysis.
Nutrition & Physical Activity Action Planning
Welcome to the Arizona Nutrition and Physical Activity (AZ SNUPA) Action Plan System Map! This Map represents the ecosystem around the 2023 AZ SNUPA Action Plan and workgroups. The Social Systems Map was developed as an outcome of the action planning process which contributed to the development of the three-year plan and provided a visual representation of the current ecosystem engaged in the work. The map will be live with continued input and interaction through the end of the Action Plan implementation in early 2026.
Building Resilience to Lessen the Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences
In Arizona and around the U.S., a growing number of school districts are transforming their schools into trauma sensitive environments and taking deliberate steps to become both safe havens for all students and safe working environments for all school staff. This report provides a glimpse into the current state of trauma informed policies and practices in schools throughout Arizona and presents recommendations to further advance supportive education environments. Information gathered from education leaders provide insights to promoting effective trauma sensitive schools in Arizona. What comes through clearly from those leading the way in Arizona is that this work hinges on recognizing and supporting all staff in focusing on developing relationships with students, families and the community. The areas of greatest need are increased opportunities and designated time to learn about trauma, cultivate meaningful relationships, develop and implement district and school- wide action plans, as well as increase support for staff well-being. Read more about Trauma Sensitive Schools, including the full report.
Kinship care parity for children affected by incarceration
Kinship care parity for children affected by incarceration. While participating in the Women's Foundation of Alabama's Women’s Policy Institute Fellowship, Dr. Melanie Mitros worked collaboratively with Sarah Abrahams, Holly Glasgow, Kendra Jones, Dr. Brandi Shah, Ashley Williams, and Ada Katherine van Wyhe to develop a campaign roadmap to advocate for and implement effective systems for kinship care of children separated from incarcerated mothers. We developed the roadmap to optimize systems for kinship care parity to effectively support, stabilize, and strengthen children and families experiencing separation through maternal incarceration. Read the policy roadmap (P)repairing for Reunification: Kinship care parity for children affected by incarceration.
"Melanie jumped in as a consultant to lead our exploratory work for a new sector of LISC Phoenix programming around Child Care. Our highly successful entré into this work would not have been possible without Melanie's collaborative work with our National Team of experts in the field. She strategically kept folks already in the sector engaged as our Local Program built a team to efficiently deploy $65M in Federal dollars for Child Care Facilities & Infrastructure. She now leads the evaluation this program, and we look forward to her recommendations."
"Melanie has been an integral part of our team, providing invaluable project management, writing, and strategy services that have significantly contributed to the success of our initiatives. Throughout her time working with us, Melanie has consistently demonstrated a high level of professionalism, attention to detail, and expertise in her field. She has shown a deep understanding of our organization's goals, mission, and values, and has worked tirelessly to ensure that our projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the highest standard of quality. Melanie has also been instrumental in providing insightful recommendations and innovative ideas that have helped us to identify new opportunities and achieve our goals. Her ability to think critically, analyze complex information, and communicate her ideas effectively has been an invaluable asset to our team. Overall, I can confidently say that Melanie has exceeded our expectations in every aspect of her work. She is a pleasure to work with and has become an integral part of our team. I highly recommend Melanie for any organization seeking a talented, knowledgeable, and dedicated consultant."
"I had a very positive experience working with MPW Consulting on the Arizona State Nutrition and Physical Activity Action Plan. Dr. Mitros offered her extensive experience with system mapping as well as her professional network to support the project. She is a flexible, collaborative partner who shines at keeping multifaceted teams and projects on track. Dr. Mitros' creative thinking and adaptive leadership were invaluable to our group's success."
MPW's vast knowledge and network across the non-profit and health and human services continuum is always so helpful when engaging in a new project. Melanie is responsive, positive, empathetic, and devoted to high quality outcomes in all the projects in which she engages. It is always a positive (and fun!) experience to work with Melanie..
"Working with Melanie has been a great experience. Not only because of the strong skillset and experience she brings to the project, but also because she shows up with empathy and understanding, really listening to the project needs and co-creating solutions that fit those needs. She is responsive, professional, and knowledgeable. I highly recommend engaging with MPW Consulting!"