“It’s fun to make a difference,” says Will Melton. And, as one of Richmond’s most energetic entrepreneurs and activists, Melton is having a lot of fun.
After more than a decade working in the new technologies arena, Melton founded Xponent21 in 2015. The digital marketing consulting firm has since become the hub of Melton’s extensive efforts to make Richmond a better place.
The range of his activities span from serving on the board of Housing Families First, the region’s largest shelter for families with children, to starting an artisanal brand of water packaged in aluminum cans, called Richmond Water, in an effort to reduce plastic waste.
Melton makes it clear, however, that his pursuits come from a fundamentally entrepreneurial mission. “Everything in my life is about trying to find efficiencies,” he says. “I really think that every solution can solve multiple problems and, if you’re not thinking about solutions in that way, you’re missing an opportunity.”
After graduating from the Leadership Metro Richmond Quest program in 2020, Melton began to think about a longer-term project, the “America’s Healthiest City” initiative. “My idea was to build a belief system that Richmond could be the healthiest city in America,” he says. Melton also hosts a weekly radio show on local ESPN station, 106.1, as part of this grassroots outreach project.
His impulse to bring people together most recently manifested in the establishment of AI Ready RVA, a consortium of companies and individuals building educational infrastructure related to artificial intelligence. “It’s about shaping the conversation so that it’s not scary for people,” Melton says. “If Richmond is going to advance in the digital future, we need a workforce that has adopted AI and is literate about it.”
Melton first came to Richmond to attend VCU in 2003 but really committed after bringing his future wife here in 2013. “I met my wife in Williamsburg on New Year’s Eve,” he remembers. “Nothing is open on New Year’s Day there, so I took her to brunch at the Franklin Inn and then we did a little tour downtown. Something happened; we fell in love with Richmond.”
He’s since committed to tackle some of the region’s thorniest problems. “I’m going to live here for at least the next 10 years,” he says. “I made that commitment, now let’s get to work.
