Melodie Knowlton

Melodie Knowlton, Senior Director of Community Affairs, is the Executive Director of the Vertex Foundation & Global Head of STEAM Education. She is a strategic thinker, dynamic speaker and visionary leader who moves with excellence, creativity, urgency and purpose. Utilizing her background as a scientist, educator, people leader and community partner, she works to maximize the impact of corporate social responsibility initiatives and corporate giving for both the community and industry stakeholders.

Melodie currently leads two key areas of Vertex’s community engagement: the Vertex Foundation and the Vertex Learning Labs.  In her role, she oversees the STEAM Education function and drives the strategy and execution of the outreach activities. Since joining Vertex in 2016, Melodie has transformed the Learning Lab into a global outreach program that impacts the communities in Boston, San Diego and Oxford, UK through the creation and expansion of STEM opportunities to students who have not always had access to hands-on and paid science experiences. In 2021, Melodie joined the Vertex Foundation Board of Directors where she provided strategic input on the Foundation’s work in the community and managed relationships with STEAM Foundation partners.  In 2023, Melodie was tapped to lead the Vertex Foundation as Executive Director.

Prior to Vertex, Melodie was a teacher and department chair at The Cambridge School of Weston. She also was an instructor at Harvard’s Extension School and did postdoctoral research at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. Melodie earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University and holds a B.S. in Biology from The Ohio State University. Melodie has also completed post-graduate programs at Harvard Business School and Boston College, Center for Corporate Citizenship. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work including The Leading Women Award by the Girls Scouts of Eastern MA, Commitment to Diversity award by Xconomy and American Graduate Champion by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.