by Chuck Cascio, Author and Former South Lakes Teacher
Born and raised in Reston, Melinda Arons has built a life that hits the very core of meaningful media-related activity. The 1994 South Lakes High School graduate who grew up on Yellowwood Court and then on Cross School Road says of Reston, "It is hard to count the many fond memories. I especially loved the summer pool culture...I was a total pool rat." A unique aspect of her years in Reston is "you didn't need to belong to a country club or live in a super fancy house...you could just hang all day with your friends and swim, eat ice cream from the Good Humor truck, and be totally safe with very little parental supervision. I didn't realize how rare and special that was until I was an adult."
As an adult, the impact of those early years helped shape Melinda's career. Reflecting upon her graduation from Georgetown University in 1998, Melinda admits, "I've always been more about vibes than plans. After graduation, I went to London for a year with two close college friends, and would have loved to have stayed, but my visa expired. However, I did make a contact there that got me my first job in news in New York, and that got the ball rolling."
That ball has rolled Melinda into many influential media roles, including 12 years as a producer at ABC News and three years as a manager of strategic partnerships at Facebook. All these roles often put Melinda at the forefront of critical issues, and in 2016, she became Director of Broadcast Media for Hillary for America where she oversaw television coverage of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and managed their relationships with the networks. After the election, Melinda spent a year consulting. "That experience gave me the confidence to believe that if I ever tried working on my own, I was far enough along in my career with enough contacts and skills to make it work."
With that confidence, Melinda founded Arons Advisors in 2021. One of the major projects her namesake organization took on was as part of the "first-ever team of former television journalists brought in by Congress to help produce televised hearings of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, laying out the committee's evidence to the country. It was by far the most important and meaningful thing I've ever been a part of."
Melinda resides in New York’s West Village, but life in Reston and at SLHS remains vivid: "My group of friends and I just celebrated our 30th reunion together! It was magical...truly a special, completely hilarious group. Another major influence from high school would be the teachers, especially Faye Cascio in biology and Kent Harris in English. Ms. Cascio made us feel so smart and well taken care of, and Mr. Harris was incredible; he taught me how to write."
Seems like the “vibes” Melinda values have been nurtured by the community where she grew up as she continues to make an impact.
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