Melinda Colaizzi, Founder of Women Who Rock™

By Young N’ Loud Magazine 

Intro to the Interview

Melinda Colaizzi is the founder and creative force behind Women Who Rock™, a global movement that brings together music, empowerment, and advocacy for women’s health. Through female-fronted lineups, impact-driven campaigns, and strategic partnerships, she is redefining how culture and purpose can move in unison on a global scale.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 Women Who Rock™ has become a cultural statement. What was the moment you realized this wasn’t just a project, but a movement?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 The shift happened the moment women started telling me that Women Who Rock made them feel heard. When artists, fans, survivors, and young girls all began connecting to the mission and to each other, I knew this wasn’t just an event. It was a force. The energy became bigger than anything I could’ve planned. It started taking on its own momentum, and that’s when I realized this is a movement.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 Your concerts feature exclusively female-fronted artists. Why was this an essential rule rather than an optional goal?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 Because the industry has made it painfully clear that women are not treated equally. Only about 20% of artists on major festival lineups are women and that number hasn’t moved in years. I’ve spent years leading a blues/rock band, often the only woman on stage, and I saw firsthand how normalized that imbalance was. Women Who Rock was built to disrupt that. It’s reclaiming space women should have had all along.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 How did the idea to connect music with women’s health emerge? What sparked this direction?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 The idea came from a very personal place. When my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it was research that saved her life. That experience made me realize how powerful, and how fragile, access to medical innovation really is. Around that same time, I learned that women were not required to be included in medical research until 1993, and that women’s health is still drastically underfunded. Those two truths collided for me. I knew Women Who Rock could use music as a platform not just for celebration, but for impact raising awareness, driving funding, and championing the research that women deserve.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 Magee-Womens Research Institute is a global leader in women’s health. What does this collaboration allow you to accomplish at a scale you couldn’t reach alone?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 Magee-Womens Research Institute is doing incredible, life-saving research, but by itself, it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Women Who Rock gives them a stage and a global voice. Through our concerts, pop-ups, and artists, we bring their critical work to audiences across the country and the world. Together, we’re not just raising awareness, we’re building a movement that fuels breakthroughs, funding, and real change for women’s health everywhere.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 Your pop-ups and campaigns have a very distinct energy. How do you design experiences that feel both empowering and communal?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 I design experiences the way I design a show: to be bold, electric, and inclusive. From the stage to the pop-ups, the music and visuals create energy, but our apparel gives it permanence as supporters take the movement with them. It’s about empowerment that lasts, and community that grows. When someone wears our apparel, they’re saying, “I’m part of this and I stand for something.” That’s the feeling I want every experience to leave behind.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine The apparel line is becoming iconic. Beyond aesthetic identity, what does it represent to your supporters?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 The Women Who Rock apparel line is iconic because it combines style with statement. Our rocker-chic designs, especially the Support Women in Music tee now sold at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame retail store, let people broadcast their belief in women’s empowerment. And it does more than look good, because a portion of sales goes directly to life-saving women’s health research. When someone wears our apparel, they’re part of a movement, making an impact while making a statement.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 The music industry has long-standing systemic gaps. Which of these challenges do you believe Women Who Rock™ is most directly confronting?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 Women’s voices have been underrepresented for decades on stages, in lineups, and across media. Women Who Rock exists to amplify those voices, creating platforms where women lead, headline, and tell their stories. It’s not just about being included, it’s about being heard, celebrated, and recognized.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 Can you share a moment—on stage or behind the scenes—when you saw firsthand the impact of your work?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 A breast cancer thriver once came up to me after our benefit concert and said the event made her feel hopeful again. She told me it was the first time in months she felt like herself. Moments like that stop you in your tracks. Or when a young artist tells me seeing an all-female lineup was the first time she thought, “I can do that.” That’s when you see the ripple effect of the work.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 If a young girl or young musician discovers Women Who Rock™ today, what do you hope she feels or understands?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 I want her to feel limitless. I want her to see women leading, performing, innovating and recognize herself in that. I want her to understand that her voice matters, that she deserves the stage, and that she doesn’t have to wait for permission to take it.

Q: Young N’ Loud Magazine
 What’s next for the movement? Any upcoming initiatives or visions you can share?

A: Melinda Colaizzi
 We’re scaling. Bigger concerts and more national pop-ups. And we’re launching a new Women Who Rock apparel collaboration with Gibson Guitars in 2026, celebrating women in music in a way that’s both iconic and wearable. We’re building an ecosystem where women’s voices are amplified everywhere from stages to research labs to everyday culture. The movement is growing, and we’re just getting started, so please make sure you follow us at @officialwomenwhorock or join our email list by visiting womenwhorock.info