England

Melinda Skea got a taste for adventure as her family moved from America’s West to its hospitable south and eventually settled in its fast-paced New England corner. She studied International Relations and Spanish at Brigham Young University and subsequently embarked on a round-the-world trip which included Asia, Oceania and Europe. She has since found a home base in Washington D.C. where she works as an editor for a non-profit publication, but still finds time to put a few stamps in her passport each year.

Melinda is also the founder of D.C.-based Fashion Freecycle, which strives to limit the growing problem of clothing pollution by making “One [wo]man’s trash another [wo]man’s treasure”. These quarterly events encourage women to donate items and swap them for ones they find useful. Also an avid film lover, in 2008 Melinda began a monthly Foreign Film Night, which strives to create an atmosphere of openness, respect and learning as participants dine on the country-of-choice local cuisine and enjoy cinema outside of the usual Blockbuster.