Melissa Stone

Melissa L. Stone, PhD, is an international human development advocate with 25+ years of experience managing international programs at the intersection of social and behavioral determinants of health; and the public policy agenda advancing human rights, rule of law and democratic process to enhance global peace and security. All of her work, whether in the human rights or public health arenas is predicated upon a wide-angle view of diversity and intentional inclusion of frequently marginalized peoples: women; racial, ethnic, national, linguistic and sexual minorities; children; persons with mental and/or physical disabilities; migrants and displaced people as well as persons deprived of their liberty and those at risk of being trafficked. She specializes in leveraging results-based project management methodologies, measurable performance indicators and evidence-based research, combined with "systems" and "learning community" approaches for raising public visibility about key issues impacting global health, maximizing decision-maker accountability to their constituents, and resourcing sustainable actions for advancing public health and well-being in public policy. She has worked with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, World Bank, Amnesty International, the Kinsey Institute and other civil society organizations in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Kosovo, Liberia, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Sierra Leone, Ukraine and Uzbekistan; and is proficient in Russian and French.   She holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Transformative Learning and Systems of Human Change and a Master's in Organizational Transformation from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), a Master's in Soviet Studies and a Bachelors in Russian and East European Studies from University of Virginia, and a Certificate in the Principles of Public Health including all core requirements for a Master's in Public Health from the University of Maryland.

For the GWU LGBT Health Policy and Practice certificate program, she teaches a class on International LGBTI Health which focuses on tried and tested techniques for utilizing institutionalized human rights mechanisms founded by the United Nations and regional human rights institutions for leveraging individual government commitment to and implementation of human rights legal obligations for advancing the health and well-being of LGBTI populations worldwide.