Sonia Melara, MSW

Office Hours: by appointment

Biography

Sonia Melara MSW serves as full time lecturer on the faculty of San Francisco State University’s School of Social Work since 2001. During her tenure she has also served as Internship Director, BASW Program Coordinator and now BASW Internship Coordinator. She served as the Executive Director of Rally Family Visitation Services of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital until the end of April 2024. Ms. Melara has over 30 years of management experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors. She served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women where she implemented major initiatives on domestic violence funding for prevention, education and transitional services. She was Founder and President of the Hispanic Yellow Pages and served as National Director of Leadership Programs at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF). Earlier in her Social Work career, she served as Foster Care Recruiter and Trainer for the Santa Clara County Children and Family Services Agency.                                                                                                                                             

She has served on a variety of Boards and Commissions.  President Jimmy Carter appointed her to serve on the National Advisory Commission on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. She has served under seven San Francisco Mayors, most recently as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women. She served as member of the San Francisco Police Commission, member and president of the Parking and Traffic Commission, the Immigrant Rights Commission and the San Francisco Health Commission. She presently serves on the Board of La Casa de las Madres and the Metta Fund.

Ms. Melara is co-founder of California’s first shelter for survivors of domestic violence, La Casa De Las Madres, as well as being one of the founders of La Cocina, a business incubator for low income women who want to start their business in the food industry. Ms. Melara holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Master’s degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University. She was named One of the top 100 Women in Communications by Hispanic U.S.A. Magazine; Outstanding Leader in the Bay Area by KGO-TV. She has been Featured in Our Wildest Dreams, a book about women in business; Featured in Economics, a textbook for high school students; received the UCSF Center for Gender Equity Award and was inducted into the San Francisco State University Alumni Wall of Fame in 1995.