A political science and economics graduate from Williams College in Massachusetts, Seton Melvin has over 30 years of experience working in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. Immediately after graduating from university, she joined Chemical Bank in New York and worked in commercial lending for nearly 6 years. Seton Melvin eventually transitioned to Mitsubishi Bank and assumed the role of vice president and director of the construction finance department. She obtained high-value finance loans for projects totaling more than $100 million and completed deals of more than $2 billion.

Since 1996, Seton Melvin has served as director of the brain donor program at Mount Sinai Hospital, the first of its kind in the United States. In this role, she supervises the study of clinically documented brain injuries. Her leadership skills extend to her work as a member of the Whitney Museum Directors Group and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Directors Group.

Ms. Melvin has traveled around the world. She has climbed the Grossglockner in Austria, trekked in Rwanda, dived the Great Barrier Reef, and camped on the banks of the River Kwai in Thailand.