Melissa Li

Melissa Li is a research fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), where she leads projects on democracy and peace and security. Her research focuses on protest movements, the far right, as well as peacebuilding. Melissa’s current projects cover defending democracy, transnational activities of far-right actors and improving support to local peacebuilders. 

From 2020 to mid-2021, Melissa worked for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where she advised donor countries on development financing, focusing on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Before she left to work at the OECD, Melissa’s work at GPPi included analyzing opportunities to strengthen citizen dialogues on German foreign policy.

Prior to her research at OECD and GPPi, Melissa worked on strategies against right-wing extremism and internal security as part of her internship with the office of Monika Lazar, a former member of the German Parliament. 

Melissa holds a master’s degree in International Relations at the Free University in Berlin, Potsdam University, Humboldt University, and Sciences Po Paris. She has an international bachelor’s degree in Policy Management from the City University of Applied Sciences in Bremen and the University of Cape Town. Her studies have been supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).