Selected Work
Strategy is only useful if it moves something.
Every engagement is different. Melrose works with organizations to understand the problem beneath the problem, build a strategy grounded in the people and systems involved, and move from ideas to action.
Colorado Clean Slate
Building a coalition to turn an ambitious policy idea into law.
Melrose founder Melanie Kesner helped build and chair the Colorado Clean Slate Coalition, bringing together more than 50 advocacy, legal, community, and directly impacted organizations alongside more than 20 business partners around a shared goal: expanding automatic record sealing in Colorado.
The work required more than legislative advocacy. It meant aligning organizations with different priorities, building a shared strategy, navigating political and stakeholder dynamics, and maintaining a coalition through a complex legislative campaign.
The Result
Colorado enacted SB22-099, establishing one of the country's most expansive automatic record-sealing frameworks and creating a pathway to implementation across state systems.
Policy Landscape Analysis
Turning a complex coalition landscape into actionable strategy.
Melrose Consulting supported efforts to strengthen public-safety reform strategy by examining how coalitions build, sustain, and exercise power across complex political environments.
The project included interviews with 15 senior practitioners and analysis of 27 coalitions, translating lessons from organizing, advocacy, and movement infrastructure into actionable recommendations for long-term coalition strategy.
The Work
Research · Stakeholder Interviews · Coalition Analysis · Strategic Recommendations