Experts

Melody Barnes

Executive Director of the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy

Fast Facts

  • Director of White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama
  • Former executive vice president of the Center for American Progress
  • Chief counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
  • Expertise on democracy, public policy, health policy, civil rights

Areas Of Expertise

  • Domestic Affairs
  • Health
  • Law and Justice
  • Social Issues
  • Economic Issues
  • Leadership
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

Melody Barnes is executive director of the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy and a professor of practice at the Miller Center. She is also a distinguished fellow at the UVA School of Law. A co-founder of the domestic strategy firm MB2 Solutions LLC, Barnes has spent more than 25 years crafting public policy on a wide range of domestic issues. 

During the administration of President Barack Obama, Barnes was assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. She was also executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her experience includes an appointment as director of legislative affairs for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and assistant counsel to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. Barnes began her career as an attorney with Shearman & Sterling in New York City. 

Barnes earned her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with honors in history, and her JD from the University of Michigan. She serves on the boards of directors of several corporate, non-profit, and philanthropic organizations.

 

Melody Barnes News Feed

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan introduced the second UVA Democracy Biennial event by considering the current state of democracy. “In some ways, this may be the most urgent moment for democracy we’ve faced, certainly in our lifetimes,” Ryan said. “Yet I see reasons for optimism that our democracy will not only endure, but thrive.”
Melody Barnes UVA Democracy Biennial
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan introduced the second UVA Democracy Biennial event by considering the current state of democracy. “In some ways, this may be the most urgent moment for democracy we’ve faced, certainly in our lifetimes,” Ryan said. “Yet I see reasons for optimism that our democracy will not only endure, but thrive.”
Anna Katherine Clay
In the midst of a global pandemic, historic and controversial events related to race and inequality, divisive elections, and deepening polarization, it would be an understatement to say that democracy faces significant challenges. The inaugural UVA Democracy Biennial: Crises, Opportunities, Freedoms event, hosted by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the College of Arts & Sciences’ Democracy Initiative, will be held later this week to look at both the current state, as well as the future, of democracy.
Melody Barnes UVA Today
Working in Congress, Melody Barnes, now director of UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, remembers fear and uncertainty of 9/11 – and the resolve to continue doing the work of the country.
Melody Barnes UVA Today
The University of Virginia Karsh Institute of Democracy will be holding a two-day event in September to talk about the future of democracy. The featured speakers are Melody Barnes of the Karsh Institute of Democracy; Julian Castor, the Housing and Urban Development Secretary in the Obama administration; John Dickerson of CBS News; Robert Dole of the American Enterprise Institute; Tom Perez, the Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration; former Congressman Denver Riggleman; Rashad Robinson of Color of Change; Stephanie Ruhle of NBC News/MSNBC; David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group, and Margaret Spellings, the Secretary of Education in the George W. Bush administration.
Melody Barnes CBS19
The Karsh Institute can enhance and accelerate collaboration, according to its inaugural director, Melody Barnes. Barnes directed the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama, and co-directed policy and public affairs at UVA's Democracy Initiative.
Melody Barnes C-Ville Weekly