Melissa S. Norden

Melissa Norden joined Bottomless Closet as Executive Director in 2016. Prior to joining the organization, Melissa worked at the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) for 13 years, where she was most recently Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and General Counsel in the Office of the President. She helped found NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets), a nonprofit dedicated to phasing out New York City carriage horses. Prior to joining the ASPCA, Melissa served as counsel to Madison Square Garden, where she collaborated with the management of the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the New York Liberty on the Madison Square Garden Cheering for Children Foundation, raising funds for after-school programs for at-risk urban youth. Melissa is a member of the Board of Directors of Life Vest Inside, a former member of the board and a current member of Tufts University’s Tufts Lawyers Association, the Tufts Nonprofit Group, the Tufts Women’s Group and the Nonprofit Committee of the American Corporate Counsel Association, as well as a former member of the Committee on Nonprofit Organizations of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Melissa received her B.A. from Tufts University, where she was named to the Dean’s List with a double major in American History and Spanish. She has also been an alumni interviewer for Tufts University for 20 years. She earned her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School, where she was on The Journal of Law and Policy and received numerous awards for academic achievement. Melissa was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2000.