Melvenna Fant-Jones | Survivor-Centered Expert
Melvenna Fant-Jones
- Culturally Specific Strategy
- Lived Experience Engagement Strategy
- Workplace Culture
About
Melvenna Fant-Jones is a survivor, award-winning national keynote speaker, trainer, consultant, and Founder and Executive Director of WHEAT INC (Women Healing Eternally and Transforming), a survivor-led nonprofit established in 2008. Her speaking and advocacy began in 2004, bringing more than two decades of experience alongside a 19-year legal-sector career. She holds a Master’s Degree in Human Services with a focus on Trauma and Crisis Counseling and certifications in Domestic Violence Trauma and Sexual Assault Trauma from the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She is also a certified service provider through the State of Michigan and has completed the Advocacy Academy’s national victim advocate certificate program.
Melvenna connects lived experience, professional education, and hands-on organizational leadership to help professionals understand the survivor’s experience and strengthen their response. She works with healthcare organizations, corporations, nonprofits, schools, and public agencies, delivering customized keynotes, workshops, training, curriculum development, and consulting. Her work equips teams to respond to disclosures with care, support survivor choice, recognize barriers to services, and translate trauma-informed principles into everyday practice. Select workshops are certified by the State of Michigan, with continuing education credits and certificates of completion available for qualifying sessions. At the heart of her approach is a clear conviction: every interaction with a survivor matters.
Meet Melvenna
Impact highlights
- Founded WHEAT INC in 2008; leads survivor-centered services across Macomb, Wayne, and Oakland counties in Michigan
- Served more than 10,000 families and individuals and helped more than 650 families secure safe, stable housing
- Leads the RISE Initiative, a coordinated community response under an OVW Children & Youth grant
- Brings more than two decades of keynote speaking, workshop facilitation, panel participation, and survivor and family engagement, with work through WHEAT including 25 community trainings on trauma-informed care, presentations at more than 11 town halls addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and related issues, additional presentations on homelessness, and the development and launch of eight signature programs spanning prevention, advocacy, legal support, and case management
Who I work with
Executive directors, program leaders, healthcare professionals, human resources teams, businesses, schools, public agencies, victim service organizations, and community coalitions. Her work is especially relevant to teams supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, including Black women, youth, families, and people experiencing housing instability.
Services
Survivor-Centered and Trauma-Informed Training
Customized workshops that help professionals understand the effects of trauma and respond to survivors with greater empathy, insight, and skill. Topics include responding to disclosures, communicating without blame, supporting survivor choice, and improving connections to resources.
Format: Virtual or in person
Pricing: Custom quote based on session length, audience, customization, and travel
Book with MelvennaKeynote Speaking and Panel Participation
Presentations that connect lived experience, survivor advocacy, and organizational leadership. Topics include survivor leadership, resilience and healing, and why every interaction with a survivor matters. Tailored to conferences, healthcare teams, businesses, nonprofits, schools, and community audiences.
Pricing: Custom quote for each event
Book with MelvennaOrganizational Consulting and Trauma-Informed Workplace Culture
Consulting for leaders and teams who want to improve how their organizations engage and support people affected by trauma and violence. Includes reviewing intake and referral practices, identifying barriers to engagement, strengthening staff communication, and developing practical tools.
Pricing: Custom proposal based on scope, timeline, and deliverables
Book with MelvennaLived Experience Engagement and Survivor-Led Strategy
Consulting and facilitated planning to meaningfully include survivor perspectives in programs, advisory groups, training, and decision-making, with attention to compensation, accessibility, cultural responsiveness, and avoiding tokenization.
Pricing: Custom quote based on engagement format and scope
Book with MelvennaCommunity Partnership Development and Referral Coordination
Facilitated planning for organizations and coalitions to strengthen collaboration and improve access to survivor services. Includes service mapping, identifying gaps, clarifying partner roles, and developing warm-handoff practices.
Pricing: Custom proposal based on number of partners, scope, and facilitation needs
Book with MelvennaCredentials and training
- M.A., Human Services, Trauma & Crisis Counseling, Regent University (2024)
- B.S., Legal Studies, summa cum laude (2007)
- Certifications in Domestic Violence Trauma and Sexual Assault Trauma, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (2024)
- 40-Hour Victim Advocate Certificate Program, The Advocacy Academy (2026)
- Women’s Leadership Program, Yale School of Management (2023)
- Nonprofit Resource Development Certificate, Arizona State University (2023)
Focus areas
- Culturally Specific
- Youth
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Survivor-Centered Practice
- Survivor Leadership
- Domestic Violence
- Sexual Assault
- Human Trafficking
- Black Women and Families
- Housing Stability
- Keynote Speaking
- Organizational Training and Consulting
Connect
Survivor-Centered Experts are reviewed by Dawson Visionary Enterprises before they are listed. Experts set their own rates, and organizations book and pay them directly.
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