Melodie Lopez (Hopi/Navajo/Pueblo/Mexican) received her BA in Psychology & American Indian Studies from CSU Long Beach and her Master’s in Social Welfare, with an emphasis on Indian Child Welfare from UC Berkeley.  Serving Indian Country for the past 30 years, Melodie blends traditional Native Knowledge and contemporary Indigenous Scholarship to provide unique strategies in environmental education, youth leadership and strategic planning. She is the President of Indigenous Strategies LLC whose services includes program development through Indigenous evaluations to tribes and tribal nonprofits centering Native Nation building and Indigenous data sovereignty.

I.S. has co-created the Engaging Native Boys Exploratory Project and STEM RISE AZ, where Melodie led the Traditional Ecological Knowledge curriculum group.  Upon the end of the Engaging Native Boys grant, I.S. assisted in the development of Indigenous Intellectual Warriors, for Native men in college (UA, ASU, TOCC) and oversees its development into a nonprofit. After assisting the development and coordination of the Arizona Indian Education Association's Protecting Our Land Camp; I.S. has developed a year-long EcoLeadership program - EcoTruths for Indigneous Youths.

In her spare time, Melodie serves on the University of Arizona’s Native American Advisory Council to the President, UA American Indian Alumni mentoring program, Arizona Department of Education’s Indian Education Advisory Council, Arizona State University’s Office of American Indian Programs Advisory Council and serves as the Secretary to Board of Directors of the Loft Cinema. In 2019, she became a founding matriarch of the H.O.N.O.R. (Honoring Our Nations, Offering Resiliency) Collective, a group of Indigenous women, Two Spirit and non-binary individuals who are grounded in feminine energy to support individuals, families and communities who have experienced trauma.  HONOR provides education, outreach and support on the many threads touching Murdered, Missing Indigenous Relations including violence against Mother Earth.