Melissa Barnes-Dholakia
Executive Director, MBD Partners
Email: melissa.barnes-dholakia@
Melissa Barnes Dholakia is founder of MBD Partners, supporting new and existing charter schools in the areas of school design, charter development, goal setting and monitoring, performance reporting, and grant writing. Prior to this work, Melissa served as co-Director of Lighthouse Community Charter Public Schools for ten years, joining the original founders in year two of operation to grow Lighthouse into an exemplary, urban charter school organization. Prior to entering administration, Melissa worked as a Humanities teacher in Washington State and at a public K-12 bilingual school in Hsinchu, Taiwan. She also spent four years as a Product Manager and Content Producer, developing online Masters in Education programs for Canter & Associates, Lodestar Charter Petition – ii. Executive Summary via Walden University and Laureate Education. Melissa was a 2002 New Leaders for New Schools Fellow, through which she received her administrative training. She earned her MA from the University of Oregon, where she also held a Teaching Fellowship in the College of Education, and her BA and Teaching Credential from Whitman College.