Melissa Milton-Pung is a Policy Research Labs Program Manager at the Michigan Municipal League. Her expertise is in place-based economic development initiatives, historic rehabilitation, and heritage tourism. She holds a Master of Historic Preservation from the University of Kentucky College of Architecture, where her research helped create the Commonwealth’s first historic property tax credit. Melissa is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) through the National Development Council, has served as Adjunct Faculty in the Graduate Program for Historic Preservation at Eastern Michigan University (EMU), and is a Past President of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN).

Prior to joining the MML in 2017, Melissa spent a dozen years as Economic Development & Historic Preservation Project Manager for Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor). In this role she oversaw 13 local historic districts, administered in excess of $25M in Federal grant projects, and provided expert assistance for local governments seeking to stimulate local investment and preserve community character.