Melissa Maxwell

Melissa Maxwell is the Assistant Director of Membership and Communications at the Virginia Association of Museums, where she supports member engagement, communications strategy, and professional development for museum professionals across the Commonwealth. In this role, she focuses on strengthening connections across the museum field through clear communication, thoughtful programming, and effective systems.

Melissa brings more than a decade of experience in museums and nonprofit organizations, with a strong background in administrative leadership, development operations, and training and onboarding. Prior to joining VAM, she spent over five years at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in increasingly senior roles supporting Development Services and Annual Giving. As Development Services Administrator, she led division-wide onboarding and training initiatives, managed system access and IT assets, coordinated budgets and invoicing, and provided executive-level support to senior leadership, with an emphasis on process improvement and cross-functional collaboration.

Earlier in her career, Melissa worked in interpretation and visitor engagement as a Historic Sites and Groups Interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg and served as the Volunteer Coordinator and Museum Educator at Pickering Museum Village, where she developed training, recognition, and engagement programs for hundreds of volunteers. She holds a Master of Arts in American History with an emphasis on Women's Social Movements of the 19th Century from SUNY Brockport and a Bachelor of Arts in American History and Anthropology from St. John Fisher University.

When not at work, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband. Together they enjoy traveling and finding new restaurants to frequent, visiting museums, and have a love for ice hockey. Melissa spent a majority of her life playing goalie in ice hockey.