Melanie Call: Turn Your Pain Into Purpose And Use Your Voice

<p>What happens when the system isn&#39;t working for you? For Melanie Call, the answer was to try to change the system.</p><p>In this episode of the <strong>Mental Health Momentum podcast</strong>, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with entrepreneur, civic technology builder and community advocate Melanie Call to talk about motherhood, mental health, childcare, finding your voice and turning frustration into action.</p><p>After more than 20 years working in technology program management, operations and leadership, Call reached a breaking point in 2022. Balancing motherhood and her career became increasingly difficult, and limited access to childcare eventually contributed to her decision to leave the workforce.</p><p>But Call didn&#39;t see childcare as simply a personal problem.</p><p>She started researching how many other women were leaving the workforce because of childcare, writing publicly about her experience and connecting with advocates across the country. Her work eventually took her to Washington, D.C., where she participated in advocacy efforts and testified before Congress.</p><p>Along the way, Call discovered another problem: participating in government can feel unnecessarily complicated for everyday people.</p><p>That experience inspired <strong>iTestify</strong>, her civic technology project designed to make it easier for people to understand when government decisions are happening, how those decisions affect them and how they can make their voices heard.</p><p>But this conversation isn&#39;t only about public policy. </p><p><strong>Episode Highlights:</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>When motherhood and career collide:</strong> How childcare barriers contributed to Call&#39;s decision to leave the workforce after a 20-year career in technology and operations.</p></li><li><p><strong>Turning pain into purpose:</strong> Why Call began researching childcare, sharing her story publicly and advocating for other working families.</p></li><li><p><strong>From personal struggle to Congress:</strong> How telling her story led to national advocacy and the opportunity to testify in Washington, D.C.</p></li><li><p><strong>Why your voice matters:</strong> Call&#39;s realization that everyday people need an easier way to participate in decisions affecting their families and communities.</p></li><li><p><strong>The idea behind iTestify:</strong> How Call is using her technology background t