Melia (born 28 May 1957 in Frankfurt, Germany) currently serves as Washington Director at PEN America.
Previously, he served in the Obama Administration as USAID's Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia (2015 - 2017) and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, at the United States Department of State (2010 - 2015), where his portfolio included Europe, South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and international labor rights.
Melia previously served as Executive Director of Democracy International, an organization that designs, implements, and evaluates democracy and governance programs around the world.
Melia also served as the Deputy Executive Director of Freedom House, the centrist bipartisan human rights organization launched in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt and others.