Melissa Strompolis PhD
Melissa Strompolis, PhD, is the Director of Research and
Evaluation at Children’s Trust of South Carolina. Through her work at Children’s Trust, she
engages in program evaluation and data integration to drive and improve efforts
to prevent child maltreatment and improve child well-being. Understanding child well-being trends is
important because the insights gained enable Children’s Trust to focus on
policies and programs that will lead to the greatest improvements and to ensure
that prevention efforts are effective and efficient so that every child in
South Carolina has the opportunity to thrive in a healthy, nurturing
environment. Additionally, Dr.
Strompolis facilitates community-based organizing and action via the South
Carolina Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Initiative.
Dr. Strompolis is also an affiliate faculty member at the
Institute for Families in Society in the College of Social Work at the
University of South Carolina and at the Yvonne & Schuyler Moore Child
Development Center in the College of Education at the University of South
Carolina. Prior to working at Children’s
Trust, she was a research associate at the Center for Child and Family Studies
in the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Strompolis also worked previously as a
research assistant at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and as a
research associate for the United States Navy.
Dr. Strompolis volunteers as a guardian-ad-litem for
Richland County CASA, an organization that advocates for any child referred by
family court in Richland County, South Carolina. She was also elected as a member-at-large for
awards and membership for the Society of Community Research and Action (SCRA),
Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. Previously, Dr. Strompolis served as chair of
the international policy committee for SCRA.
Locally, she leads the South Carolina State Data Team and serves on the
Joint Council for Children and Adolescents.
In
her spare time, she likes to hang out with her husband and two cats, cheer for
her favorite teams (Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers), travel, read and
cook for friends and family.