Melissa Michaelis Thompson
Melissa Michaelis Thompson is the Executive Director of the ORPC. Prior to joining the agency, Melissa last served as a Lead Attorney at the Colorado State Public Defender’s Pueblo Regional Office. There she defended the rights of indigent defendants for nearly seven years, supervised juvenile and adult felony district court divisions, and served as the public defender member of the Behavior Health Treatment Court. In 2013, she was honored by the Pueblo County Bar Association with the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year award for Professional, Civic, and Charitable Participation and Contributions to the Community of Pueblo for her work litigating the unshackling of children in juvenile court. She serves on the National Steering Committee for the American Bar Association’s Alliance for Parent Representation. Melissa received her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School, where she was an assistant editor of the Wayne Law Review, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan with Distinction.