Melita Grant specialises in integrated water resources management (IWRM), and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in international development, with a focus on gender equality and inclusion. She has worked in governments, universities, and civil society organisations. With an academic background in Political Science and Environmental Management, Melita has expertise in water governance and policy development, and has applied this in Australian and Indo Pacific contexts. Melita has a technical background in applying inclusion frameworks; rural water management policy; urban water conservation and demand management technologies, behaviours and policy; transboundary water politics; and integrated water resources management through roles at the NSW Office of Water, local government and at the Institute for Sustainable Futures. 

Melita has led a number of gender equality and social inclusion projects, including the Gender Action Piece for the Global Water Partnership, and authored ‘Gender Equality and Goal 6 – The Critical Connection’ for the Australian Water Partnership. She has led multi-year research projects in Vanuatu, Kiribati, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar and India. Melita has extensive experience in designing, implementing and evaluating stakeholder and community engagement processes within civil society organisations, and has synthesised and translated research into practical and actionable policy and practice recommendations for civil society, multilaterals and governments. 

Melita is the Co-Chair of the Australian WASH Reference Group, an AsiaLink alumna, a former member of the Australian Water Partnership's Expert Review Panel (6 years), and a Board Member of the Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT). She has recently joined the Research Advisory Group of the Australian Public Policy Institute (APPI), and has joined Climate-KIC as a board member. She holds a Bachelor of Arts - Government (Honours first class) from Sydney University, and a Master of Environment from The University of Melbourne and is a PhD candidate at UTS.