Melissa Porrey is the Director for the USAID Staff Care Service Center. In this role, she leads a team of subject matter experts and service professionals who staff an innovative global staff care program designed to strengthen personal and organizational resilience for the USAID workforce.

Melissa is a people- and planet-loving humanitarian who found her passion for mental health when she left a career in journalism to engage with the world as a student, volunteer, and impassioned traveler.

As a licensed clinical mental health counselor with a focus on grief and trauma, Melissa’s experience includes managing a global resiliency program for the American Red Cross; building and delivering psychological first aid and other psychoeducational curricula for service members, veterans, and military families; and overseeing a clinical inpatient and outpatient mental health program for survivors of traumatic injury. She’s also served as an interventionist for a DOD-funded PTSD research study and oversaw the casework department for a nonprofit that provides bereavement support to the families of fallen Service Members. Melissa is also a published writer who works as a freelancer contributing articles related to mental and overall health. When she’s not working with others on improving their mental wellness, you’ll find her on a yoga mat or out on a hiking trail. Melissa lives in Northern VA with her husband and two children.