Melissa Cavalier is the Executive Director for Token of Love Foundation, a Covington based nonprofit that helps women who have come from situations of abuse, addiction and human sex trafficking.
Melissa is a New Orleans native and a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University. She has years of experience in business development with a particular interest in the staffing industry, and she is passionate about education. She has served on the education committee for the Hammond Chamber of Commerce and fought alongside others for reform in Tangipahoa Parish.
As the newly appointed Executive Director, Melissa is devoted to assisting women in the community overcome the trials of their pasts by helping to cast a vision for their futures. Prior to her role as Executive Director, she served as the foundation’s Education and Workforce Development Director. Her passion has always been speaking out for women’s rights, so taking the helm at the Token of Love Foundation was a natural fit for her.
Her calling to help exploited women was fueled by her own difficult trials that she experienced in the workplace in 2011. Before the prevalence of the #MeToo movement of 2017, she felt there was very little that could be done, other than leave her place of employment. Melissa found herself at a crossroads in her career wherein she had to make a decision to continue to endure abuse and harassment for the sake of supporting her family, or muster up the courage to fight back and take a stand. In the wake of such a difficult ordeal, she realized that she was not alone in her struggles. It was out of these struggles that her calling to help empower women was born.
Many women in our local communities and across the country endure abuse and exploitation every day in order to continue supporting themselves and their families. With her knowledge of business and the staffing industry, Melissa created the Esther Elizabeth Scholarship Fund through the Token of Love Foundation. This scholarship fund provides women the opportunity to go back to school to pursue their interests and fuel their dreams. Token of Love Foundation also provides vocational training, life coaching and Christian counseling for women through their New Life Program.
This year, Sophisticated Woman is honored to have Melissa Cavalier as the Keynote Speaker for our annual “Hats Off” Luncheon.
Join us for inspiration, food and fun as we honor our Enterprising Women (and Man) of 2019, and reveal the 2019 Enterprising Woman of the Year. 100% of auction proceeds will benefit Token Of Love to help continue to support local woman in need.
The “Hats Off” Luncheon is on Friday, April 3 at 11 am at Benedict’s Plantation in Mandeville.
For more information and to purchase tickets to this inspiring event, call 985-893-7350, visit sophisticatedwoman.com or find us on Facebook @sophisticatedwomanmag
