Melissa Boteach
Director of Half in Ten
Melissa Boteach is Director of Half in Ten at American Progress. In this capacity she coordinates “Half in Ten: The Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half in Ten Years,” a project designed to build the political and public will to reduce poverty by creating good jobs, strengthening families, and promoting economic security.
Prior to joining the Center for American Progress, Melissa worked as a senior policy associate and the poverty campaign coordinator at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, or JCPA, where she represented the JCPA to Congress, the administration, and in coalition on issues related to poverty, the federal budget, hunger, housing, and health care. As poverty campaign coordinator, Melissa also designed, spearheaded, and implemented JCPA’s national antipoverty campaign, which has been launched in more than 50 U.S. cities.
A Harry S. Truman and George J. Mitchell Scholar, Melissa earned a master's degree in public policy from The George Washington University with a concentration in budget and public finance as well as a master’s degree in equality studies from University College Dublin. She also graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland with degrees in government and Spanish, and was the sole recipient of the university's highest honor, the University Medal, for exceptional service, leadership, and scholarship.
Melissa has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN,The Thom Hartmann Show, and been a guest on several radio shows. She is frequently cited in print and online media and her work has been published in the The Washington Post, Newsweek, On Faith blog, TheRoot, the Jewish Daily Forward, Sh’ma Magazine, and several Spanish language media outlets. She was named as one of Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 for law and policy in 2011.
Email: mboteach /@\ halfinten.org
Articles by Melissa Boteach
- House Republican Cuts for Kids by the Numbers, April 26, 2012
- Protecting Wasteful Military Spending at All Costs, April 18, 2012
- The Real Hunger Games, April 17, 2012
- Guest Voz: Three Ways the Ryan Budget Hits Latinos, March 27, 2012
- New Ryan Plan Would Harm Our Most Vulnerable Citizens, March 20, 2012
- Infographic: Keeping Wasteful Defense Spending vs. Helping Vets, March 2, 2012
- House Strip Club Vote Misses the Point, February 1, 2012
- Infographic: House Appropriations Bill Ignores the Other 99 Percent, October 13, 2011
- Census Data Underscore the Urgency of Enacting Job-Creation Measures , September 13, 2011
- El Sueño Americano recibe un duro golpe, August 8, 2011
- The American Dream Takes a Tough Hit , August 8, 2011
- What You Need When You’re Poor, August 5, 2011
- Video: Saving WIC, July 28, 2011
- 10 Reasons Why Everyday Americans Need Medicaid, July 11, 2011
- Infographic: One Day’s Worth of Millionaire Tax Cuts Would Feed Needy Families for a Year, June 14, 2011
- Infographic: Tax Cuts for Millionaires vs. Nutrition Assistance, June 9, 2011
- Bait and Switch, June 2, 2011
- Un Déficit de Liderazgo, February 15, 2011
- A Challenge to Our Nation, October 12, 2010
- Don’t Cut One Hunger Program to Pay for Another, September 28, 2010
- Let's Get Serious About Poverty, September 23, 2010
- Necesitamos Hacer Más para Combatir la Pobreza, September 17, 2010
- What the Census Tells Us About the Great Recession, September 17, 2010
- We Need to Do More to Combat Poverty, September 16, 2010
- Half in Ten y las Comunidades de Color, September 15, 2010
- A Katrina for the Entire Nation, August 30, 2010
- Un Katrina Para Toda La Nación , August 30, 2010
- We Can't Stop Growing Jobs Now, August 30, 2010
- As School Ends, Hunger Begins, June 9, 2010
- What Gets Measured Gets Done, March 2, 2010
- Ask the Expert: Fixing the Federal Poverty Measure, March 2, 2010
- Thanksgiving for All Americans, November 25, 2009
- National Service and Youth Unemployment, November 16, 2009
- Extending Help to the Unemployed, November 2, 2009
- Extending Help to the Unemployed, October 27, 2009
