Melissa L. Hector, MS, MBA is the Director of Equitable and Strategic Initiatives at the Boston Public Health Commission. Ms. Hector led community initiatives under three Mayors in the Office of Human Services for the City of Boston. Since her appointment in 2019, she has worked with internal and external partners to develop a COVID-19 health equity community engagement framework.

Ms. Hector leads a life committed to service. Prior to public service with the City of Boston, she accepted the offer to serve her community in the AmeriCorps Massachusetts Promise Fellowship for two years at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health Teens Lead at Work program. Her service led to spotlights in the Boston Globe highlighting youth workers’ rights and increasing youth jobs. She went on to research and implement case management methodologies at the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance where Ms. Hector designed and delivered adult training curriculum based on state welfare and federal USDA policy regulations.

She is a certified DEI trainer, who received her BA in Media and Culture from Bentley University, MS Global Studies and International Affairs from Northeastern University, and Social Impact MBA from Boston University. Ms. Hector has held tenure roles as Adjunct lecturer teaching diversity inclusion curriculums at Bentley University and Urban College. Ms. Hector grew up in Boston's neighborhood of Roxbury. She attended Boston Public schools, became enriched in advocacy for social and economic justice through activism as an undergraduate, as a writer for the university’s newspaper, serving as a board member for various student organizations, and as leader in community service learning both locally and abroad.

Ms. Hector serves on Governor Healey’s Public Education Nominating Council and is a board member of Boston’s Franklin Park Coalition. Ms. Hector has a deep passion for African American emancipation and women's empowerment. In her spare time, she promotes health awareness and self-confidence through her volunteer run/walk meetup group Curvy Girls Run.