Melissa B. Skolnick-Noguera, MSW

Melissa B. Skolnick-Noguera is a joint Ph.D. candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2). Through her research, she investigates cultural arts networks in the Philadelphia region, and how praxis and discourse impact politics and policy. She advocates for the use of multimodality as a tool, in order to ensure that research is accessible beyond the academy. From 2016-2020, she was a core team member of the CAMRA Fellows Program, as she piloted an expanded version of the program through a Mellon Foundation grant. The program supports undergraduate students through a mentorship model, while also providing production and research training for the Fellows to produce a social justice focused media project.

Melissa is a 2022 honoree of the Al Día 40 Under 40 award, 2019 Leeway Transformation Awardee, and a 2020 Fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Leadership Institute. Her media work has been supported by Independence Public Media Foundation, Velocity Fund, Doc Society Good Pitch Local Philadelphia, Leeway Foundation, Double Exposure Scholars program, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Philadelphia Day Lab intensive, and the Public VR Lab. Since 2010, Melissa has collaborated with artists and grassroots organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region, with roles focused on storytelling, resource mobilization, and communications. She holds an M.S.W. from SP2 and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Delaware.