From 2006 to 2017, Mélanie Montinard worked for Viva Rio, a Brazilian NGO, promoting culture of peace and social inclusion in Brazil and in Haiti. After five years of experience in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), she is now based in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). She held various positions such as reintegration project manager for children and youth involved in violence (child soldiers), protection coordinator (ref. after Earthquake in Haiti) and migration project coordinator (in Brazil). She co-founded Mawon, a Brazilian Association in 2017. Mawon promotes mobility, diversity, connections and integration, in order to disseminate the culture of migrants in the host society through cultural events and capacitation.
In 2011, Mélanie carried out a $36 million USD Haiti Appeal Evaluation for ACT Alliance (humanitarian components). She also worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as an independent consultant, on international and Haitian law on trafficking and smuggling.
Mélanie studied international law at the universities of Strasbourg (France - Master) and Münster (Germany - LLM). She holds a PhD in social anthropology from Museu Nacional, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). She is currently executive articulator at the Instituto Maria e João Aleixo (IMJA), working with MIDEQ. Her research focuses on the dynamics of (im)mobility and Haitian networks in the Americas.