Melinda Fine

Melinda Fine, Ed.D.
Founder and Principal

A passionate and mission-driven advocate for social justice, I have led, advised, researched, and collaborated with organizations advancing progressive social change for over 30 years. My partners have included individual donors, foundations, and nonprofits working locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. I am known for collaborations characterized by analytic rigor, deep listening, and respectful candor. Projects I lead build on organizational strengths, clarifying and aligning diverse priorities, and working to achieve productive consensus.  

Between 1993 and 2010 I led Fine Consulting, providing strategy, research and evaluation, and capacity building services. Putting my independent consultancy on hold for a decade to assume leadership positions in the social sector, I directed the Communities for Public Education Reform Fund, a donor collaborative aligning nearly 80 national and local foundations to support community-led organizing for educational equity.  I became Vice President of NEO Philanthropy, a public charity managing social justice-focused funder collaboratives and fiscal sponsorships. From 2015 to 2020, I served as Director of Philanthropy and Strategic Partnerships at TCC Group, where I led strategy, grantmaking, and field learning projects, oversaw management of nine family foundations, and published field reports on sector trends. I continue to collaborate with TCC in the newly created role of Executive Philanthropy Affiliate. 

Compelled by the urgency of today’s challenges, I have enthusiastically reactivated Fine Consulting, committed to fostering a culture of shared humanity and building a truly inclusive democracy. 

I have an Ed.D. and M.Ed. from Harvard University, where I focused on antiracism education and youth civic engagement. My B.A. from Dartmouth College, completed soon after that institution became co-ed, focused on feminist theory and culture change. My record of volunteer leadership includes board and committee service with Facing History and Ourselves, Humanity in Action, Know Your IX, Philanthropy New York’s Gender Committee, and the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers. I have also been an elected member of the New York City Community Education Council (District 2) and a Fellow of the Research Center for Leadership and Action at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.  

I am an avid potter and swimmer as well as a mother, daughter, wife, sister, and friend. In my work I draw on insights gleaned through my personal and professional experiences, believing that successful collaboration requires embracing different ways of knowing along with a hefty dose of emotional smarts.