Click on the photo to download a larger, print-quality image. Melissa Koide was the Deputy Director of the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation. In that role, she worked to provide national leadership on public policies related to expanding wealth-building financial services, especially for low- and middle-income families; improving financial education; forging a new responsibility framework for consumer financial services in the 21st century; and helping Americans to better manage their debt. While at New America, Ms. Koide focused on developing federal policies to utilize financial services innovations to provide low- and middle-income consumers with high-value, low-cost financial products. Her efforts have engaged the financial services industry, policymakers, and academics. She has written about these efforts in the American Banker and spoken widely about these policy initiatives and other topics.

Before joining New America, Ms. Koide worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, the Brookings Institution, CFED, and the Mayor’s Office in Louisville, Kentucky. Ms. Koide’s prior experience includes promoting a new federal tax credit to support asset accumulation by low-income consumers; engaging the financial services industry in innovative asset-building policies and initiatives; and providing strategic advice for a $2 million employer-based matched savings program. Ms. Koide holds a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and bachelors’ degrees in economics and policy analysis from the University of Louisville.