Stansbury, Melanie, 1979-

<p>After years of work on land, water, and community issues in New Mexico, I went to Washington D.C., where I worked with the U.S. Senate and Executive Office of the President to work on these issues at the national level. Now, I serve as the first woman elected as State House Representative to House District 28.</p>

<p>Having grown up in Albuquerque, I share many of the same stories and struggles as so many New Mexican families and have dedicated my career to helping build a brighter future. Like all families that struggle - grit, determination and resilience helped my family get by, but it was the care and support – the heart – of our community that helped us thrive. </p>

<p>Food, water, shelter, and a meaningful job are the basics of a dignified life. Yet for too many in our community, these fundamentals are out of reach. Like so many families, ours was touched by housing and food insecurity, lack of health care, tragic losses, and many of the experiences that come with the struggle to get by. For me, this struggle is personal and has inspired my life’s work in community building, economic development, hunger and homelessness, and water security issues.</p>

STANSBURY, Melanie Ann, a Representative from New Mexico; born in Farmington, San Juan County, N. Mex., January 31, 1979; graduated from Cibola High School, Albuquerque, N. Mex., 1997; B.A., Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga, Calif., 2002; M.S., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 2007; consultant; staff, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 2002-2004; staff, White House Office of Management and Budget, 2011-2015; staff, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 2015-2017; member of the New Mexico state house of representatives, 2019-2021; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative Debra Haaland (June 1, 2021-present).

<p>Melanie Ann Stansbury (born January 31, 1979) is an American politician and scientist serving as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2021. The district includes most of Albuquerque, along with most of its suburbs. A Democrat, she was formerly a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 28th district.</p>

<p>Stansbury was born in Farmington, New Mexico, and raised in Albuquerque. After graduating from Cibola High School in 1997, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in human ecology and natural science from Saint Mary's College of California in 2002. She then earned a Master of Science in development sociology with a minor in American Indian studies from Cornell University in 2007, where she was a PhD candidate.</p>

<p>Stansbury began her career as an ecology instructor at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. As a White House Fellow, she worked as a policy advisor on the Council on Environmental Quality. She was a consultant at Sandia National Laboratories and later served as a program examiner in the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration. She worked on the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and as an aide to Senator Maria Cantwell. Since 2017, she has worked as a consultant and senior advisor at the Utton Transboundary Resources Center of the University of New Mexico.</p>