Melissa Malzkuhn is an activist, academic, artist, and digital strategist with a love for language play, immersive experiences, and community-based change. She founded and leads creative research and development at Motion Light Lab, at Gallaudet University. The Lab intersects creative literature and digital technology to create immersive learning experiences- from storybook apps that have been translated into over 20 international languages to motion-capture projects that build signing avatars- all of which expand the 3D technology landscape for deaf children, visual learners, and more. Melissa is a cofounder of CREST Network, focusing on equity and inclusion of deaf people in sign language technology. Her production company created an app to teach American Sign Language, The ASL App, which has been downloaded over 3 million times. Third-generation Deaf, she has organized deaf youth and worked with international deaf youth programs, fostering leadership and self-representation. Now, she collaborates with teams in different countries to support literacy development for deaf children through sign language resources. Melissa started a campaign, Hu - To Sign Is Human, through screenprinting to continue positive advocacy for language access for all deaf children. She is an Obama Fellow, an Ashoka Fellow, and an art fellow with the CripTech Metaverse Lab. She resides in Maryland with her family.

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