Release date: August 8, 2022
My guest this episode is Melinda Gulick. Melinda is the CEO of First Things First, which is an organization created by Arizona voters to help young children be ready for success in kindergarten and beyond. Melinda took over the helm of First Things First in March of 2022. As an award-winning public administrator with a breadth and depth of experience, Melinda is uniquely poised to advance First Things First’s mission, and I am excited for you to hear her perspective on why early childhood education is important and what you can do to promote it. More information about Melinda and First Things First can be found below.
Biography of Melinda Gulick
Melinda Morrison Gulick is an active contributor to community and business organizations, and focuses her passion and energy on education, young children, healthcare, a strong local economy and the environment. Melinda served on the executive team at DMB Associates for 14 years responsible for operations, communications, marketing, human resources and community affairs. Prior to DMB, she was the Executive Director of both the Desert Foothills Land Trust and Scottsdale Leadership. Early in her career, she served as the Community Relations Manager for Southwest Human Development, a local nonprofit organization focused on children birth to five where her passion for kids blossomed.
For the last four years, Melinda Gulick has had her own management consulting firm focused on strategic planning, governance, fundraising, communications and sustainable business planning primarily for nonprofit organizations and periodically served in Interim CEO and Executive Director roles. She has been honored by the Junior League of Phoenix with the Sandra Day O’Connor Award, Scottsdale Leadership with the Frank W. Hodges Alumni Achievement Award, the Phoenix Business Journal as one of the Outstanding Women in Business and by Trends Magazine as a Trendsetter. She serves on the boards of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, the Phoenix Women’s Board of the Steele Children’s Research Center, the Scottsdale Charros Foundation and the Desert Foundation Auxiliary. She is the past chair of the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy and received the first-ever Arizona Cox Conserves Heroes Award in recognition of her advocacy and volunteer work for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. She is a graduate of both Valley Leadership and Scottsdale Leadership and has been active in numerous local city elections, school bond and override campaign committees.
Ms. Gulick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University. She lives in Phoenix with her two young sons, Zane and Jace, and three rescue dogs, Liberty, Beau and Nigel.
Links
First Things First
