Mellissa Ayala

Division Chief for Network Agreements Management

Mellissa Ayala is the Division Chief for the Network Agreements Management Division for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Mellissa began her career in manufacturing and continued support for manufacturing in private industry positions at DynCorp, Lockheed Martin and Smiths Aerospace before joining NIST MEP in 2009. Before her most recent role in MEP, Mellissa was a Group Manager, Resource Manager, and Federal Program Officer supporting MEP Centers in the management of their NIST cooperative agreements.

Mellissa received a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor's of Business Administration from Strayer University. She is a 2024 Excellence in Government Fellow (Partnership for Public Service) and also holds Federal Acquisition Certifications for Contracting Officer’s Representatives (FAC-COR) and Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM).