On paper, Melissa Reilly is Massachusetts Senator Jamie Eldridge’s Office Aide and Disability Policy Adviser, handling everything from database entry to record maintenance for constituent services to a host of other administrative tasks.
But Senator Eldridge, an Acton lawmaker, knows that Melissa’s job description doesn’t explain half of what Melissa has brought to the table in her decade-plus working for him. “Not only does she take the job very seriously and is very committed to helping the constituents I represent,” Senator Eldridge says, “but she’s really there to help anyone.”
A longstanding member of the MDSC’s Self Advocate Advisory Council. Melissa graduated from Acton-Boxborough High School and, in 2010, from the Transition Program at Middlesex Community College. She is also a top-flight athlete, having medaled in alpine skiing competitions, including taking home the silver for the USA at the Special Olympics in South Korea in 2013.
Melissa is a public speaker in great demand, presenting regularly to medical students and physicians about her experience growing up with Down syndrome.
“The thing that I always say about Melissa is that she’s become my ambassador.”
– State Senator Jamie Eldridge
