Melinda Rath Sanderson is the Executive Director of the Canisius College Women’s Business Center. She returned to Buffalo in December 2003 after 24 years.

Her 20 years of business experience include a "Big 8" public accounting firm in their Management Advisory Services Department, Community College faculty, Nestle USA/ Stouffer Hotels and resorts, Westin hotels and resorts and the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau. Additionally she had been a small business owner for 10 years and directed a real estate consulting practice with expertise in the real estate, hospitality, and hotel industries.

A graduate of the Buffalo Seminary, she holds a BS Degree in Business Administration in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of Denver and also attended the University of New Hampshire and State University of New York at Buffalo. She is currently pursuing an MBA at Canisius College.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Women Business Centers, and the Small Business Administration. She was also a recipient of the U.S. SBA's Women in Business Champion of the Year Award and Business First's Women Who Mean Business award.

Sanderson was a competitive downhill ski racer in both high school and college. In high school, she was an AFS exchange student to Chile.

She and her husband Bruce reside in Snyder, NY and are parents of Catherine, Sara, and William.