About Mel

Melissa (Mel) Morgan

Since moving to Long Beach, CA in 2001, Mel Morgan has focused her professional and personal work in areas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, civil rights, racial justice, education, and youth-serving initiatives, primarily across Southern California. 

Mel is the founder of VERB works, an innovative problem solving consultancy that brings people together to put good ideas in action. Mel is a relationship builder and solution seeker who values working closely with community leaders and institutions, businesses, philanthropists, grassroots groups, youth, and people of many backgrounds to find common ground, bridge communication, and create collaborative opportunities for the common good.

Mel is unapologetically Black and believes that race and income should not determine one's future in Long Beach. Her passion for social justice and equity come from her roots as a biracial person growing up in the South, where she engaged people in community service and leadership development to build relationships and empathy for others' experiences. 

Mel graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and a minor in Spanish. Upon graduation, she served as a Rotary Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar of Good Will in Merida, Venezuela, before making California her home. She has worked at the California Conference for Equality and Justice (formerly NCCJ), Orange County Human Relations Council, the Heart of America Foundation, the City of Long Beach Human Dignity Program, the Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion, and Long Beach Forward. She is the co-founder of B-Well, a Black-centered mental health and education collaborative, founder of the online resource www.allthingsblack.us. Mel currently serves as Regional Organizer and Impact and Engagement Coordinator with the Southern California Black Worker Hub for Regional Organizing, and is a proud member of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Long Beach Chapter.

Mel leads www.verbworks.org, is a graphic designer, a creative, a youth advocate, a co-conspirator, and the mom of two awesome daughters. She enjoys thinking out of the box, creating art, facilitating dialogue, public speaking, laughing, connecting people, giving voice to the unheard, and amplifying important messages.

Community Leadership & Engagement

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    • Supporter, Long Beach Black Worker Center (Long Beach, CA)

    • Co-Creator, Long Beach Black Liberation Meetup (Long Beach, CA)

    • Member, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Long Beach Chapter (Long Beach, CA)

    • Co-Founder, Black Wellness Collaborative (B-Well) (Southern California)

    • Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Black Student Achievement Initiative (BSAI) Advisory Board Member

    • Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Equity Leadership Team (ELT) Founding Member

    • Executive Committee Member, NAACP (Long Beach, CA)

    • Founding Member, JCC Cares Volunteer Collaborative, Alpert Jewish Community Center (Long Beach, CA)

    • Circle Keeper, The LGBTQ Center Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) - Facilitated pro bono monthly restorative justice discussion circles to support the Center’s nonprofit management team.

    • Writer, Palacio Magazine (Long Beach, CA)