Melekte Melaku is a Senior Organizing Strategist for the ACLU of Ohio. She is an alumnus of the Obama for America fellowship program and a member of the Progressive Talent Pipeline, a national program recommending progressive candidates for roles in Congress and the executive branch. After graduating from Case Western Reserve University, Melekte devoted a year serving Glenville High School with City Year Cleveland, developing a school-wide attendance initiative, and later honored as a Grit Award Winner. She is also the first African American finalist for the Maltz Museum Stop the Hate essay contest.
She is the executive producer of the ACLU of Ohio bail reform podcast The Steep Road to Freedom. She served as the public safety coordinator for Mayor Bibb's transition taskforce in 2022 and currently sits on the board of Preterm Abortion Clinic.
Issue area experience includes pretrial reform, juvenile justice, LGTBQ+ protections, environmental justice, and educational equity. In her spare time, Melekte is a dedicated yoga practitioner and learning to read Amharic, the language of her birthplace, Ethiopia.
