Center on Education and Training for Employment at The Ohio State University
Dr. Ross serves as CETE’s Associate Director of Research Partnerships and Impacts and Program Director of the Community Engagement and Evaluation team. She received her Psy.D. at the Wright State University’s School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Ross has considerable experience in community engagement and project management and has served as the lead project manager for a variety of evaluation and capacity building projects. She is well versed in project management best practices and is currently spearheading CETE’s Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.
Melissa Ross, PsyD, serves as the Associate Director of Research Partnerships and Impacts and a project director for the center’s equity, engagement, and evaluation work at the Ohio State University’s Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE). She received her clinical training at the Wright State University School of Professional Psychology. As Associate Director, Dr. Ross establishes and cultivates research partnerships, manages the center’s faculty/staff/student research and teaching program and supports CETE Associates’ engagement in research, scholarship and student instruction.
Dr. Ross spearheads The Center on Education and Training for Employment’s Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Movement and serves as an advisory member of the REDI Steering Team. REDI is designed to increase members of the CETE community’s knowledge and skills relevant to the posture and practice of cultural humility, identify and establish anti-racist norms, practices, and policies at CETE, and contribute to the dismantling of institutional racism within CETE’s spheres of influence.
As co-director of the center’s Equity, Engagement, and Evaluation program, Dr. Ross leverages her extensive experience in project management and partner relations to assist organizations and communities to achieve desired outcomes in an efficient and effective manner. The work of serving vulnerable populations (including marginalized populations, early learners, and special education students) is embedded in her day-to-day work and practice. She has managed large scale, multi-collaborative professional development, and coaching projects. Products and lessons learned from past projects serve as the basis for her current work.
Prior to accepting her current position with The Ohio State University, Dr. Ross served as a Deputy Superintendent of Programs for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. While in that position she oversaw all social, health, education, religious, and recreational programming for a 240-bed correctional institution that served youth aged 12 to 21.
