Melissa Kendrick

Melissa Kendrick (born c. 1964 in Hueytown) is the founder of Magic City Harvest, a former national executive director of the Campus Outreach Opportunity League and the founder and owner of Sojourns fair trade shop in downtown Birmingham.

Kendrick graduated from Hueytown High School in 1982 and went on to study political science at San Diego State University. She was a contestant on "The Price is Right" in 1984.

She later completed a master's in non-profit management at UAB, and began a long-anticipated campaign of world travel with an extended stay in Greece working odd jobs. Back in Birmingham she founded Magic City Harvest, from which she was recruited for the executive director vacancy at the national Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL).

With COOL, Kendrick worked closely with the AmeriCorps program and was asked by President Bill Clinton to represent the US at UNESCO meetings, based in Paris. She later worked as a full-time consultant and continued to travel the world, developing a deep attachment to the continent of Africa.

She founded Sojourns in 2005, establishing Birmingham's first fair trade store with products and crafts from around the world. In 2009 she was hired as a part time director of development for the Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival. She was also offered the executive directorship, but turned it down.

References

• Thompson, Brittany (Spring 2008) "Markets with a Mission" '"Exodus magazine.
• Millwood, Abigail B. (March 2009) "World Wise". Lipstick magazine. pp. 26-7
• Kwon, Wade (April 22, 2009) "EXCLUSIVE: Sidewalk hires Chloe Collins as Executive Director" Wade on Birmingham