Hilary Melton
Executive Director Pathways Vermont

Hilary Melton is the founding executive director of Pathways Vermont, a nonprofit transforming mental health and homelessness services through person-centered approaches. Since 2009, she has led the organization’s expansion into a statewide agency offering permanent supportive housing and alternative mental health services. With over two decades in mental health advocacy, Hilary is dedicated to ending coercion and advancing approaches that center personal agency and self-determination. Her leadership is informed by her lived experience of mental health challenges, grounding Pathways Vermont’s mission in empathy, authenticity, and the power of peer connection. Before founding Pathways Vermont, she directed New York City’s first Housing First program (1992) and brought the model to Vermont in 2009—the first rural implementation in the U.S. Hilary also holds an MFA in poetry.