Team

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Melinda Gibson is Managing Director of The Capacity Shop, where she supports nonprofits and campaigns working toward equity and social change. With over 20 years of experience in organizing, advocacy, and political strategy, she’s contributed to a wide range of efforts—from local field work to national legislative wins.

Most recently, Melinda helped lead a ballot initiative in Los Angeles County to address housing and homelessness, coordinating teams and partners to collect nearly half a million signatures. She has also supported independent expenditure campaigns focused on protecting democracy and uplifting underrepresented communities.

Earlier in her career, Melinda served as Deputy Director at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, working with state and local partners to expand voting rights and help election departments respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Melinda’s work focuses on collaboration, thoughtful strategy, and building long-term power with communities across the country.

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Brit Blalock brings 15 years of experience in brand development, nonprofit marketing/communications, and electoral campaigning across the advocacy, healthcare, and tech sectors. They previously served in strategic leadership roles for Southern Research, Innovation Depot, and the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Brit is a longtime grassroots organizer and is the founder of two LGBTQ community support orgs. In 2022, they were a candidate for Alabama’s state house in district 54. They received a B.A. in Literature from Samford University and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. Brit is based in Alabama with their wife and their menagerie of rescue pets.

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Je'Kendria is a Black, disabled, queer person who has been working as a facilitator, organizational leader, event curator, and
community organizer in DC for the past 20 years.

Known in the community as a dynamic creative and cultural worker, they have been devoted to the Movement for Black Lives for the past decade, developing liberatory programs, co-leading revolutionary campaigns, offering transformative political education, and designing curriculum and gorgeous visual content. They recently concluded 6 years of service as an Executive Director for Collective Action for Safe Spaces, where they equipped individuals and organizations with the capacity to enact abolitionist community safety for marginalized survivors. In their work, they aim to 'make the state obsolete,' building community power and infrastructure that supports everyone in dismantling and rebuilding oppressive systems. Additionally, they serve as a healing practitioner for people of color across the country, where they host cultural events, provide spiritual services and products, and support mutual aid efforts.