Melanie Potyondy was initially appointed to represent District 4 as an interim council member in January 2021, serving three months and deepening her passion for serving the broader community. She was elected to return to the seat following the November 2023 municipal election and is grateful for the opportunity to serve on City Council again.

Melanie grew up in Grand Junction but has been a Front Range resident since moving to Fort Collins in 1998 for college. She earned her undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado. She lives in southwest Fort Collins with her husband and two children.

Since graduating, Melanie has dedicated almost twenty years to public service through her career as a school-based mental health professional, being an active member of her educator union, and frequent volunteerism in the Fort Collins community. She has also served on numerous local and state boards and committees, including the Fort Collins Women’s Commission, the Colorado Society of School Psychologists, and the Colorado Department of Education’s Mental Health Advisory Committee.

These endeavors have given Melanie a keen sense of where our community is succeeding, and where it is not meeting the needs of all. A deliberate and integrative thinker and connector, she applies a systems perspective to problem-solving. She looks for root causes, observes the gaps, and attends to those least likely to be heard. She is particularly attuned to areas where new or updated systems, programs, and policies might be of benefit. She cares about equitable, sustainable outcomes that will serve not only current residents, but also those who will inherit Fort Collins in decades to come.

Key areas of interest that she brings to Council include affordable and attainable housing, increased equity and inclusion across Fort Collins, investment in accessible social programs such as childcare, medical care, and behavioral health, support for the local business landscape, and environmental sustainability, including assertive action to address the climate emergency.

Melanie has reduced her time working for the Poudre School District to fulfill her commitments as a Council Member. Her family and path of service matter greatly to her and she is delighted to have been granted an opportunity to work hard for the residents of District 4 during her term.