Meleah Follen is the Youth Engagement Director for Healthy Community Initiative (HCI).  In this role she oversees all aspects of Northfield YouthBank, and coordinates 90+ youth in their service on local boards and commissions through the Youth on Boards program.  YouthBank is a youth philanthropy model established in Northern Ireland with chapters all around the world.  Northfield YouthBank was the first chapter in the United States to train and empower local youth to grant funds out to other youth that develop projects to better their community.  The Youth on Boards has grown under Meleah's leadership from 4 organizations and 20 youth to over 24 organizations and 90+ youth participating.  By providing support to both adults and youth, the Youth on Boards program facilitates authentic youth voice throughout the Northfield community.  She also serves as the staff lead for the Northfield Promise Social Emotional Learning Impact Team, an Adult Advisor for Students Supporting Students and a team member of the Northfield Racial and Ethnic Equity Collaborative.   

Meleah has been active in the non-profit arena for the past 22 years as both volunteer and staff; having served as the Executive Director of a start-up non-profit in Minneapolis, the President of the Junior League of Minneapolis, the Chair of the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery’s Board of Directors and serving on numerous non-profit boards locally and nationally.  She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago.