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Photo by Jay Paul
Melanie Brewer got her love of innovation from her father, who worked as a chemical engineer for Union Carbide Corp. in West Virginia while she was growing up. “When I was in high school, sometimes he would bring projects home, and he’d let me help with simple calculations or paperwork,” she says. “I became really interested in what he did just by watching him.”
She followed in his footsteps by studying chemical engineering at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, which led to a 10-year career in engineering at ARCO Chemical and Bayer (both in Charleston, West Virginia) and Yupo Corp.
In 2005, Brewer and her husband had their first child, and she ended up taking a 12-year break from engineering to focus on parenting and volunteering. In 2017 — eight years after the family moved to Richmond, Virginia — Brewer decided to pursue her passion once more. “Even though I hadn’t been in the workforce for a while, I still had valuable knowledge and experience,” she says. “I figured that if I put my foot in the door, I could prove myself.”
After a successful interview with global innovation leader DuPont, Brewer was hired as a relief valve engineer. In 2021, she began her current role as functional maintenance area leader, in which she is responsible for managing multiple groups of on-site employees who support DuPont’s business units. “I help facilitate my employees in solving problems and coordinating the support needed to keep our production areas running and making product,” she says.
As a manager, Brewer says she feels strongly about leading with empathy and having a deeper understanding of her employees. “There is importance in knowing who a person is and what’s going on in their lives,” she says. “If you take the extra time to get to know someone, that goes a long way when you are trying to meet a deadline or asking them for help.”
Brewer also leads DuPont’s Spruance Women’s Network, an employee resource group with the mission of cultivating and driving female leadership and catalyzing culture change. The group frequently engages employees through special events ranging from networking opportunities to sponsoring a Breast Cancer Awareness Month series. “We want to develop our employees while encouraging them to get involved with the community,” she says. “I love getting to meet different women who I wouldn’t normally see on a daily basis.”
Outside of work and volunteering, Brewer enjoys traveling with her family and going to concerts. “My husband and I crossed off a bucket list item last year and saw The Rolling Stones live in Charlotte, N.C.,” she says. “It was such an awesome experience.”
