Shetler is a Senior Training & Education Associate at Cornell University’s ILR School Climate Jobs Institute.
Shetler began her labor career as a community organizer with the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund, working to build multi-stakeholder coalitions to ensure quality homes and jobs by advancing transparency and labor standards in affordable housing. She was the Director of Organizing and later Political Director for the Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers Local 46, where she led community labor partnerships in NYC and Westchester county, and collaboretd in numerous multi-trade organizing campaings. Melissa was a co-founder of and served as Executive Director for Pathways to Apprenticeship (P2), a direct entry pre-apprenticeship program focused on union career opportunities in the building and construction trades for residents of public housing and justice-involved individuals.
Melissa is a program presenter for NABTU's Building Trades Academy, where she teaches strategic organizing. She has an M.A. in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia University’s Teachers College and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from SUNY Empire State College.