Melinda Grismer

Get to know me

Melinda Grismer, Ph.D., a Community and Regional Development Specialist with the Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD), has expertise in grant-writing, facilitation, strategic planning, board governance and qualitative inquiry. Currently, she is the Managing Director for the Wabash Heartland College & Community Collaboration Initiative, Master Trainer for the Reality Spanish/English language program in conjunction with Ivy Tech and the Manufacturing Extension Program, Executive Board Member of the Indiana Minority Health Coalition (IMHC), Advisory Board Member for MHS Serves, and President of the Indiana Literacy Association. She recently (August 2023) earned her doctorate from Purdue’s College of Education in Language & Literacy with a graduate certificate in qualitative research. Her dissertation focused on the results of a rural healthcare study of 500+ Latinos in Indiana conducted during the pandemic. Two of her published journal articles (related to her dissertation) can be found in her Featured Works section below.

Previously, Melinda worked on PCRD’s DMAP (Defense Manufacturing Assistance Program) team, assisting counties and regions affected by defense downsizing, coached SET (Stronger Economies Together) regions across the state to build local coalitions and write high-quality plans of action, and served on the state ROZI (Rural Opportunity Zone Initiative) team. In addition, she was part of the Purdue Community Development Extension team that created/refined curriculum for the Business Retention & Expansion (BR&E), Community Leadership, Enhancing the Quality of Public Spaces and (national award-winning) Beginners Guide to Grant Writing programs.

Melinda spent three years (2004-2007) developing a successful Latino Community Learning Center/Pl@za Comunitaria in Frankfort, Indiana, followed by three years (2007-2010) as the Learning Network of Clinton County Coordinator, building local educational and workforce capacity through grant funding and fee-based revenue. In 2010, upon obtaining her Master’s degree from Purdue University in Extension/adult education, she became a community development educator in Clinton County, trailblazing such spotlight programs as Breaking Back into the Workforce, Reality Language instruction for manufacturing/service industries, Local Government: Closest to the People, Industry Leader Lunch Series, Small Business Networking, Summer Kids Workshops, the Clinton County Tutoring Program and Leadership Clinton County. In 2016, she moved into the role as statewide community development specialist, but still retained her connection with Clinton County as a board member for the Learning Network. In 2020, she became the Learning Network’s Director and continues in that role.