Melanie Foote is the Director of the Education, Recruitment and Strategic Planning Division for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, the statewide public defender system in Kentucky. Melanie serves on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is faculty for the National Criminal Defense College, the National Association for Public Defense, and Gideon’s Promise. She also regularly trains and presents for state and local public defender agencies across the country on topics including trial skills, voir dire with a focus on deselection and sexual based offenses, challenging electronic evidence, use of electronic evidence in cross examination, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and leadership skills. Melanie also developed and launched a structured public defender mentorship program in 2014, which has since been adopted by both federal and state public defender offices. Melanie began her career in public defense in 2007 when joining the Post Conviction Branch of the KY DPA. While in the Post Conviction Branch, Melanie represented adult clients on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, mistake in the proceedings, and claims of actual innocence and helped to secure the release of numerous individuals for reasons ranging for sentencing miscalculations to actual innocence. In 2009, she joined the Kentucky Innocence Project to work exclusively on DNA based claims of actual innocence. In 2010, Melanie transitioned to a trial position with the DPA and represented clients facing charges ranging from misdemeanors to capital offenses. She then joined the Education Branch of DPA and became the Education Branch Manager in 2019 then Division Director in 2024. Melanie received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Melanie is a member of the New York and Kentucky State Bars.

Jeff is a highly respected public defense veteran with over 25 years of experience training public defense staff nationwide. Known as the “trainer of trainers,” he has mentored countless public defense training directors, presenters, and small group coaches across the country. Jeff’s expertise is sought after, having delivered in-person training in over 40 states and taught for prestigious programs such as the National Criminal Defense College, Gideon’s Promise, and Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop. He formerly served as the training director for both the National Association for Public Defense and the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy.