Rep. Melton is passionate about economic development and job creation; education reform; ethnic, racial and socio-economic equality; promoting working and middle-income families; and youth development.

Rep. Melton is a Colorado native and grew up in Aurora and Denver. Having attended Prairie Middle School in the Cherry Creek school system and Thomas Jefferson High School in the Denver school system, he saw the great differences in the quality of education Colorado children receive. The experience instilled in him a desire to reform Colorado’s public education system and help children from lower-income families receive a better education.

He worked his way through the University of Colorado at Boulder. At age 20 he was promoted to front office manager for a large hotel in Aurora, making him the youngest department head in the building.

After graduating from CU with a B.A. in political science, Melton began a career in government and government relations. He worked for Comcast Communications in the government affairs department, learning a great deal about regulatory administration, and began his involvement in local politics when he volunteered for the successful 2008 campaign of Rep. Beth McCann (D-Denver).

Melton left Comcast to work in Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien’s office on the Governor’s Commission on Community Service, a position where he could help shape state policy to make a difference for working families. He headed up an effort to begin a state-run AmeriCorps VISTA project, the Colorado State VISTA Program. He was the program’s first supervisor and brought Colorado more than half a million dollars in federal resources aimed at fighting poverty across the state.

In 2010, Rep. Melton left the lieutenant governor’s office to manage the campaign of Angela Williams in House District 7 in Denver, and later that year signed on as campaign manager for Rhonda Fields in House District 42 in Aurora. He managed both campaigns through the general election and saw both candidates elected to the Colorado House of Representatives.