Melvin Mister

Biography: As president of Melvin A. Mister & Associates in Brooklyn, New York, Mister is consultant to government and private for-profit and non-profit clients on community economic development and government relations. Mister also acts as an advisor on domestic policy research and the publication program as a fellow of the Twentieth Century Fund. From 1982 to 1994, Mister worked in public finance investment banking, where he developed and implemented marketing programs; led joint innovative product development activites between public finance, real estate, leasing, project finance, and commercial banking; and was financial advisor to the Mississippi Housing Finance Agency and rotating senior manager for New York State Housing Financing Agency. Additionally, Mister has almost 20 years of experience in the public sector. In the District of Columbia, he created a new city housing department and directed urban renewal planning and implementation. For the United States Conference of Mayors, he directed a program serving the management and leadership needs of mayors in large cities. Mister holds a masters of public adminstration degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, and a bachelor of science degree from Carnegie Mellon. He is on the board of directors of the Taconic Foundation, the Institute for Public Administration, and SEEDCO (a national, private, non-profit employment and economic development corporation), and a member of the National Association of Housing and Redeveloment Officials.