A lawyer by profession, Melizel has been involved in human rights work for the last 15 years. She is currently VSEA’s Senior Director for Operations. She has extensive research, auditing and training experience on and for various industries.

She has been managing research projects and multi-stakeholder initiatives on fishing, electronics, garments and palm oil, among others.

In 2012, she co-organized with the ILO a study tour for the Employers Confederation of Thailand and Thailand Frozen Foods Association to the Philippines, and she has been researching on various human rights and labor issues around the fishing industries in Southeast Asia, most specially, Thailand.

She is also currently involved in engaging various stakeholders in government, labor, industries and multinational companies on critical and emerging labor issues across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

She is part of the global research team working on foreign contract labor in formal manufacturing and agriculture in Southeast Asia. As part of her work, she conducts research on SEA countries` policies on foreign contract workers and outsourcing mechanisms. She also organizes and conducts capacity-building activities in SEA for governments, workers and employers on labor law and code of conduct standards compliance.