Melissa Norden
Melissa Norden, Executive Director
Prior to her appointment as Executive Director at Bottomless Closet, Ms. Norden worked at The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for 13 years, where she was most recently Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and General Counsel in the Office of the President. She helped found New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), a nonprofit dedicated to phasing out New York City carriage horses. Prior to joining the ASPCA, Ms. Norden served as counsel to Madison Square Garden, where she collaborated with the management of the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the New York Liberty on the Madison Square Garden Cheering for Children Foundation, raising funds for after-school programs for at-risk urban youth. Ms. Norden is a member of the board of directors of Life Vest Inside, a former member of the board and a current member of the Tufts Lawyers Association (TLA), the Tufts Non-Profit Group, the Tufts Women's Group and the Non-Profit Committee of the American Corporate Counsel Association, as well as a former member of the Committee on Non-Profit Organizations of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Ms. Norden received her Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University, where she was named to the Dean's List with a double major in American History and Spanish. She has been an alumni interviewer for Tufts University for 20 years. She earned her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School where she was on The Journal of Law and Policy and received numerous awards for academic achievement. Ms. Norden was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2000.