Lessan Melke

469-***-**** ad0b0h@r.postjobfree.com

Clearance level: Secret

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Special Assistant to the USAID National Security Director February 28, 2023- Present United States Agency for International Development (USAID; Contractor: Vistant) 40 hours/week

• Attend high and low level meetings with and behalf of the USAID National Security Director and provide written analysis.

• Create portfolio for the National Security Director for current and upcoming projects

• Research and prepare write-ups for the National Security Director before he attends international trips, conferences, meetings, etcetera.

• Provide direct administrative support and assistance to the National Security Director and provide back-up support during absences or staffing shortages.

• Prepare and maintain the National Security Director’s calendar and long-term schedule of meetings, events, conferences, travel plans and event arrangements and independently resolves scheduling conflicts.

• Maintain regular contact with USAID senior leaders on behalf of the National Security Director to obtain briefing materials, background documents, and other related materials to gather information on specific requests.

• Provide administrative support to comparable positions within the immediate Office of the USAID Administrator.

• Work with the Director of Scheduling in the management and planning of long- and short-term calendar of events and invitations.

• Prepare all travel related documents and makes travel arrangements on behalf of the National Security Director.

• Manage schedule and prioritizes daily appointments, meetings, and invitations.

• Direct various support activities for special events, high level meetings and agency programs for highly distinguished visitors and USAID Front Office staff.

• Respond to routine inquiries and those requiring knowledge of the organization activities or its internal administrative procedures.

• Diplomatically communicate and present ideas for events hosted by the USAID Front Office and relay information regarding events, results, and next steps.

• Identify and recommend procurement actions for supplies used to support hospitality services and special events.

• Route communication, including official correspondence and memoranda to the USAID Administrator and as directed by the National Security Director.

• Collaborate and coordinate with the Office of the Executive Secretariat (ES), other organizations, vendors, bureaus, and missions.

Program Support Specialist April 11, 2022- February 23, 2023 Credence Management Solutions, USAID Global Health Technical Professionals 40 hours/week

• Supported the pre-hire and on-boarding process for new technical professionals (TPs).

• Assisted with creating, hosting, and presenting regular training sessions, and orientations for new and existing technical professionals.

• Provided travel policy, guidance, and support to TPs, including reviewing and approving travel requests, travel advances and travel reimbursement claims, managing relations and coordinating with the travel agency, maintaining accurate records on travelers, and monitoring the security online travel tracker system.

• Contributed to researching, drafting, and revising Global Health Technical Professionals (GHTP) policies, reports, and guides.

• Collaborated with accounting team to reconcile travel card with travel agency.

• Assisted with occasional high priority events, such as travel emergencies or medical/security evacuations.

• Researched and synthesized solutions to complex problems, drawing from a variety of sources including US Government regulations, best practices, Agency norms, and experience.

• Assisted with producing reports and analyzing patterns and trends in travel spend for the GHTP program team, USAID, and partners on an ad hoc basis.

• Worked with GHTP program team and USAID in placing new TPs in international locations to serve USAID missions, including assisting with navigating necessary pre-hire clearances, relocating TPs and their household goods, obtaining necessary employment visas and permits, and advising on appropriate international allowances and insurances.

• Served as the primary POC for TPs as it pertains to international and domestic travel.

• Supported GHTP outreach, diversity, and inclusion efforts including coordinating with the Diversity & Inclusion Manager to support online and in-person events, social media campaigns, and generating website content.

• Assisted the recruiting team in the application, interview, and hiring process, including implementing, and expanding anonymized recruiting practices.

• Supported monitoring and evaluation activities such as creating and administering surveys, data collection, and data analysis.

Africa Division Intern September 9, 2021- December 17, 2021 International Republican Institute, Washington, D.C. 40 hours/week

• Provided research related to program development to specific country regional teams and assisted staff on related program activities and events.

• Supported database system and database management and performed data cleaning to ensure accurate data was stored.

• Monitored international media outlets and conducted background research on political developments specific to regional portfolio.

• Edited International Republican Institute’s blogs as well as developed and edited country one-pagers.

• Wrote and contributed to proposal designs, briefing papers, reports, presentations for regional projects, and budget development processes.

Program Assistant September 8, 2020- May 14, 2021

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. 20 hours/week

• Provided research, analysis, memos, and briefs on U.S. trade with Southern and Northern borders and compare differences and topics related to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and its implementation, work force development, and more to Wilson Center leadership.

• Planned and managed events for stakeholders ranging from 2-30+ people, including high profile U.S. government officials, businesspeople, scholars, and Mexican government officials on USMCA related topics.

• Edited draft op-eds, publications, and briefs, which in turned increased timeline efficiency. Content Editor June 1, 2018- March 23, 2020

National Produce Consultants, LLC, Plano, Texas 20 hours/week

• Website content creation and editing along with marketing collateral materials.

• Redesigned company Speck Book information and content, in order to provide clients with up-to-date information on company offerings.

• Conducted research, synthesizing results, and created additional database of final results to help in creating better optimization of workflow, specifically on 1000+ local farms across the United States and Canada and the seasonal availability of 73 different fruits.

Government Relations Intern August 14, 2017- November 16, 2017 Flywheel Government Solutions, Washington, D.C. 40 hours/week

• Researched governor races and wrote 4 analytical articles for Flywheel Focus newsletter on media analysis of the races, which reached 1000+ subscribers.

• Presented summaries and memos to clients, attended conference calls and Congressional hearings.

• Coordinated and implemented events hosted for members of Congress and governors.

• Contributed to the company’s effort in building of public and private partnerships in the areas of energy and transportation.

Passport and Visa Specialist May 18, 2015- August 10, 2018 American Passport and Visa Experts, Dallas, Texas 40 hours/week

• Managed company database for 150+ countries regularly to reflect any visa requirement changes by any embassy or consulate.

• Reviewed visa application packages and regularly updated statuses.

• Analyzed the correlation between business travels, requesting passport renewals, and the need to recover entry visas to foreign countries on their old passport.

• Recommended to management a combined service for passport and visa in order to encourage clients and to make it easier as a one stop service.

• Explored the feasibility of cooperating with visa expediting agencies in Asia and Europe in order to provide a service of expediting entry visa application to the United States.

• Communicated with approximately with 50 clients a day via e-mail and over the phone for follow up and to explain overall passport and visa regulations.

• Recruited, trained, and supervised new employees on document handling in regard to privacy, prevention of identity theft in the process of applying for passports, visas, and document legalization. EDUCATION

Master of Arts in International Affairs: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, American University, Washington, D.C., degree completed May 2021

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, degree completed May 2019 SKILLS

Computer: PC and Mac operating systems; Microsoft Office (MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Outlook, OneDrive); Microsoft Teams; SharePoint

Social Media Management: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter Foreign Language: Fluent in English, Beginner level in French (reading and writing), Intermediate level in Tigrinya

(speaking and understanding; spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea) Written and Verbal: Excellent verbal and written communication skills and proven ability to communicate.

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