Melinda Colaizzi, CEO and founder, Women Who Rock. (Photo courtesy of Women Who Rock)
By Riley Dunn, Pittsburgh Business Times
Melinda Colaizzi knows what it’s like to be the only woman in a concert lineup after spending over 15 years as a singer/songwriter. That experience is what led to both Colaizzi’s founding of the Women Who Rock organization and her growing advocacy for women’s health research in partnership with the Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Colaizzi and the rest of the Women Who Rock team are currently preparing for their upcoming benefit concert on Sept. 5. The event committee that prepares for the concert includes over 20 women who produce every single aspect of the event, including coordinating talent, producing events and putting together the silent auction. The team also deals entirely with the concert’s sponsorships and oversees the media, marketing and radio campaigns. In addition to running the organization, Colaizzi is the lead singer for her band, Melinda and the Night Sky, and is an assistant professor of sports, arts and entertainment management at Point Park University.
How did your experience creating music help you when you started Women Who Rock?
One of my main influences is my passion for music and what I experienced throughout my career, both on the performance side and the music side. So many times, I’m the only woman on stage. I spent years working in the music industry in Los Angeles, and it’s not an even playing field at all for women. We still need to prove ourselves more than the men do. There’s a stat that has not changed much since we started Women Who Rock. Women only make up about 20% of the average music festival lineup in the United States. This was something that personally affected me, and I thought we needed this platform to amplify women in the music industry more and give them more performance and mentorship opportunities. One thing that we were talking about is just how do we make more of a community here in Pittsburgh, in the music industry? I think that, especially as a woman, it is extremely hard to navigate. Part of Women Who Rock is building these communities for women in the music industry so they can have an environment to be creative.
Do you have any events coming up that you’re excited for?
Our benefit concert on September 5. There’s no other night like it, not just in Pittsburgh, but anywhere in the country. There is such an energy and a sense of empowerment and advocacy. It’s not just a concert. It truly has become a movement, and we have built so many things into the concert, like the pink carpet entrance, the silent auction. We have the Women Who Rock Impact Award, which we’re honoring Kiya Tomlin with this year. She has popularity in our community and is an incredibly strong female entrepreneur and fashion designer. Music is the main theme of the night, but there are so many other things.
Could you talk about the Rising Star contest, how you started it and how it has helped women in the music industry?
The Rising Star contest we started because I strongly believe that young women in the music industry need more opportunities, more guidance, more mentorship. The contest was a way to help young artists. We don’t only continue to work with just the winners. We work with finalists, contestants — they very much become part of the Women Who Rock family, and that contest has given them once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. So if you win, you get to actually perform at Stage AE on the night of our benefit concert. We work with The Vault recording studio, which is also based here in Pittsburgh, and the winner gets to go in and fully record their original song. They work with producer and sound engineer Jimmy Hoyson, who’s a six-time Grammy winner. So they get that experience, and then also they get experience in terms of performance opportunities throughout the year and beyond. The other really cool thing that’s starting to happen is — a lot of these young artists that win are 17, 18 years old — and now a couple of years later we’re seeing some of our past winners, like Sloane Simon, on “The Voice” and getting opportunities like that. It’s incredible to look back and know that you really made a difference in somebody’s career this early in their life.
How did your partnership with Magee-Womens Research Institute begin?
Just like women in the music industry, women’s health research is underrepresented. I discovered that Magee-Womens Research Institute, which is a standalone entity across the street from the (UPMC Magee-Womens) hospital, is actually our nation’s first and largest research institute dedicated to women’s health. Once I started to learn more about that, I said, for me being a musician, there’s nothing more powerful than music. It’s a universal language. And what it’s been able to do is take the fear out of talking about things. So partnering with them, I learned about the global impact and about some of the things that they’re working on. I thought more people needed to know about this institute. I believed that Women Who Rock could become their voice, which it’s done because we have been able to unite some of the most amazing women in music. And these women don’t only take the stage to perform. They’re taking the stage to be a voice of equality and to share. And that’s been able to unlock conversations and awareness and fundraising.
Has the focus on women’s medical research improved at all since Women Who Rock began?
There are breakthroughs that happen every single day, but this year we are seeing major setbacks. The federal funding cuts are having a major impact on health research. I will say we have seen a positive trend in the awareness of women’s health, so more people are aware of it. It’s complicated. One of the great things about breast cancer research is that the survival rate and the treatments and the preventative measures have had amazing positive change over the last couple years.
Is there anything else you’d like the community to know?
We’re female-founded, female-fronted, female-produced. We have very limited concert tickets, but those tickets help drive the change. We also throw events all year. What it all boils down to is empowerment.
ABOUT MELINDA COLAIZZI:
Title: CEO & founder, Women Who Rock
Education: Berklee College of Music
Hobbies: “Mid-century modern everything. I’m always on the hunt for vintage furniture, retro lighting and that perfect Eames piece.”
Family: Husband and music co-creator Kristian Habenicht; pets Chica (Yorkie) and Prince (rescue black cat)
Causes: Advocating for women in music and for women’s health
Day in the Life:
7:00 a.m.: My day starts with strong coffee, a moment of gratitude and a quick scan of the headlines. I also like to get some sunshine and nature time in.
9:00 a.m.: This is when I lock in. Mornings are my most productive hours.
3:00 p.m.: This is when our team pulls it all together. Right now, a big focus is producing the 2025 Women Who Rock Benefit Concert.
8:00 p.m.: Whether I’m recording, rehearsing with my band or performing live, this is when I reconnect with my creative roots. On slower nights, it’s about showing up at a concert, an event, or in support of our creative community or winding down with my family at home.
Riley Dunn is a student at the University of Iowa and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.
Pittsburgh Media Partnership 