Regent-designate Charles Melton

Charles Melton is the director of public policy and research at Turo, a global car-sharing platform, where he oversees the company’s government relations efforts in the United States, Canada, France, and Australia.  Mr. Melton’s career spans advocacy roles in the University of California’s Office of the President and with Silicon Valley technology firms, along with serving as a congressional staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.  A passionate community volunteer, Mr. Melton founded Sausalito Pride and actively supports LGBTQ+ and grassroots advocacy initiatives in his local Bay Area community.

In 2020, Mr. Melton became the youngest and first openly gay president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association (CAAA) at UC Davis. Under his leadership, he launched impactful programs such as the Aggies Uncorked Wine Club, which funds student scholarships in winemaking, and implemented inclusive reforms to CAAA’s governance structure. He also successfully guided the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, adapting alumni programming to virtual platforms and driving strategic financial decisions to fortify the Association’s future.

Mr. Melton holds a Master of Public Affairs from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley (2025) and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from UC Davis (2008), majoring in Political Science.  He currently serves as Secretary of the Alumni Associations of the University of California (AAUC) and will begin his term as Alumni Regent-designate on July 1, 2025. He will serve as Alumni Regent for a one-year term beginning July 1, 2026.