Melinda has been active in politics all of her life. She is also the founder and president of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation, dedicated to the legacy of her grandfather, an early environmentalist, social visionary, inventor and photographer whose work made the world as we live in today. She became an atheist when she was eight and spent much of her adult life as an Objectivist. She had a spiritual encounter with Jesus in the mid 80s and came to accept Him as Master. She woke up one morning to find she had been crucified. She had holes in her wrists and feet, her ankle bones were broken as were her collar bones. She died, gasping for breath as her lungs filled up with blood. Later, she discovered that this was how crucifixion took place and came to accept the Mission Jesus had called her to fulfill. She wrote a book about this experience titled, Seventh Voice which recounts her memories with Jesus as an Essene.