Melissa Utley knows the Park Cities and surrounding communities like the back of her hand. When she was in the seventh grade, her family moved into a home in Highland Park, where she has lived through high school, college at SMU, getting married, raising her children, her first job as a Hyer Elementary teacher, building her own home and now as a Realtor of the city's most prestigious firm.

Her knowledge of streets and houses in the Park Cities attracted her to her friend, Allie Beth Allman. The President and CEO of the Allie Beth Allman & Associates asked her to join the top-ranked firm that specializes in buying and selling homes, properties and estates in the neighborhoods she knows so well.

She is also deeply committed to her charity work with Family Legacy Mission International, which empowers vulnerable children in Zambia to live out their God-given potential. She serves on the board of Family Legacy and has visited the country 10 times to meet the children and help the charity by distributing clothing and refurbish housing. She and her family sponsor 17 children in Zambia. Family Legacy owns and operates 24 private, Christian academies in 17 communities throughout Lusaka, Zambia and at its Tree of Life Children's Village. It's great mission, she said. God is transforming these Zambians' lives!

Melissa and her husband, Steve, reside in University Park. They have 3 grown children. They are active members of Highland Park United Methodist Church. In addition to Family Legacy, Melissa is involved in a variety of organizations in our community including: SMU Alumni Association, Advisory Board for Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, Pi Beta Phi Alumni Group, and College of Education Advisory Council for The University of Texas at Austin.