Major Melinda Monahan is a Department of the Air Force Fellow in New America’s Federal Executive program. She graduated from the University of Nebraska and earned her commission through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps in 2010. To date she has served over 13 years in the Air Force. During that time, she has held a variety of positions within the Personnel and Services Career Fields and served as an Education with Industry Fellow at USAA, San Antonio, Texas.
In her most recent position, she was an Innovation Strategist for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Strategic Studies Group at the Pentagon. In this role, she was responsible for identifying and bridging critical gaps that exist across the Air Force innovation ecosystem and human capital. Maj Monahan’s efforts focused on enhanced agile combat employment, accelerating innovations with the potential to scale, and reimaging force development.
She holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Bellevue University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Nebraska. Her passion for communication, connectivity and celebrating the ingenuity of people is fueled by her two adventurous children.