Meet Melissa
A strong and seasoned advocate for our community. A champion for families, honesty and integrity. She knows how state government works and how to work it, through boots on the ground experience at the State House. Her proudest accomplishments have been serving on teams that have passed lifesaving legislation for you.
Melissa Carden will be your voice in State Senate District 28, standing for progressive values including gun safety, expanded access to quality healthcare, reproductive rights and birth control, climate action, fair funding for schools and caring for and protecting older Rhode Islanders.
It is her work as a gun safety advocate that inspired her to run for office. It opened her eyes to the importance of being involved in the political process and to have people like her at the table – hardworking women who juggle multiple caregiving jobs as mothers, daughters, employees, volunteers – and more – who want to work to make everyone’s lives better. She knows the state legislature is where important decisions are being made that affect our everyday lives and she’s willing to get in the arena on our behalf.
With your support we can send her to the Senate.
Melissa served in a leadership position on a diverse team of community partners that passed lifesaving safe firearm storage legislation at the State House
A Strong History
Born in Central Falls. Raised in Pawtucket. Resident of Cranston.
Melissa attended St. Raphael Academy and graduated from Villanova University. She is the daughter of a retired Pawtucket teacher and granddaughter of a Teamster. A wife and mother of two boys.
She built her corporate communications career at two Rhode Island companies, the Capital Grille restaurants and Swarovski, and transformed that experience into being a powerful voice for gun safety as a volunteer leader with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
And at every stage Melissa has cared. About women in leadership, providing mentorship, and supporting cherished causes like the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign and the NHLBI’s “Red Dress Campaign”, educating women about their risk of heart disease.
You might find her with her family cleaning up plastic from Stillhouse Cove, helping to plan events for the Roger Williams Park Conservancy or supporting gun violence survivors in the community.
Whether fighting heart disease or protecting children and communities from gun violence, she focuses on issues and she gives it her all.
She’ll represent our values and be our voice in the RI Senate.
- Executive Director, RI Coalition Against Gun Violence
- Elected Delegate for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris 2024
- PTA Treasurer, Rhodes Elementary School
- Board, Roger Williams Park Conservancy
- Board, Edgewood Waterfront Preservation Association
- Chief Public Affairs Officer, RIEMA
- Democratic State Committee Rep, Delaware County, PA
- Legislative and Local Group Lead & Volunteer, Mom’s Demand Action, RI/PA
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