Melkis Alvarez-Baez began her nonprofit career at Advocates for Children of New York in 2006, and re-joined AFC in October 2024 as Chief Operating Officer. In her role as COO, Melkis is responsible for setting, articulating, and implementing effective operational strategies with cross-organizational alignment and overseeing the day-to-day running of the organization, including finance, office operations, administration, human resources, recruiting, talent development, technology, and project evaluation.

Prior to re-joining AFC, Melkis served as Director of Finance & Operations and then COO at Community Resource Exchange for over 3 years. In this role, Melkis was responsible for effective internal operations and planning, and oversaw core functions of finance, human resources, operations, and tech. Prior to joining CRE in 2021, Melkis worked at Nonprofit New York for close to 10 years in a number of different roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, and Deputy Director prior to that. Nonprofit New York works to strengthen and unite New York’s nonprofit community.

When Melkis first joined AFC in 2006, she served first as a case manager and later as Co-Director of AFC’s Education Helpline.

Melkis obtained her MS in Nonprofit Management from The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. She also has a Bachelors of Science from Harvard College.

Melkis serves as a Trustee of The Town School, and previously served on the Board of Job Path, an organization supporting people with developmental disabilities as they make choices about their lives and play valued roles in their communities.