Melissa A. Femia is the President and managing member of  Jana Diversity Solutions, a company that supplies electrical wire harnesses, warehousing and logistics, along with contract manufacturing, electrical test analyzers, and engineering design services. Jana Diversity Solutions is a female-owned, female-managed private business certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council, WBENC. Jana Diversity Solutions is also certified as a Women-Owned Small Business, WOSB. As many companies have corporate initiatives focused on sourcing diverse suppliers, Jana Diversity Solutions provides a solution to these companies in meeting their diverse targets while supplying quality parts and services.  

 

Melissa attained both a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Youngstown State University. While enrolled at YSU, Melissa held offices as Secretary of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and President of the Society of Women Engineers. She began her career by working in Process Engineering, subsequently Product Engineering and Sales for the Packard Electric Division of General Motors Corporation, which was later divested by GM as Delphi Packard Electric Systems. After 10 years with Packard, Melissa assumed a director position at a smaller, privately held wire harness supplier — St. Clair Technologies, Inc. After managing various departments including Sales, Product Costing, Engineering and Customer Service, Melissa created Jana Diversity Solutions to expand her scope and offer more supply options to customers, targeting those interested in partnering with a WBENC-certified company.  

 

Originally from Ohio, Melissa now lives in Gilbert, Arizona, with her husband and three daughters. She is conversant in Spanish although her roots are Italian. She is passionate about encouraging engineering as a career choice for students, particularly females and those from less affluent backgrounds. She has volunteered to mentor female engineering students at Arizona State University and frequently offers her time to the K-12 setting in hopes of exposing students to engineering.