Melinda Gonzalez is the assistant to the director of Uptown Stories. She is a poet, writer, mother and capoeirista. She has worked as an educator for over 10 years. Melinda has a BA from Barnard College and an M.A. in Anthropology from Rutgers University- New Brunswick. A dedicated learner, she is currently working on a second M.A. at the CUNY Graduate Center focusing on food rights and social justice. Melinda is writing a novel centered on spirituality and mental illness and has self-published two poetry books and two cookbooks. She has performed poetry internationally under the pen name Poeta Guerrera.