Melvin Mwansa was born and raised in Mansa, Luapula province and went to St. Charles Lwanga Minor Seminary for his secondary education. He majored in demography and minored in development studies at the University of Zambia. After his graduation, he worked as a tutor of demography at the University of Zambia and during his teaching span he was actively involved in conducting research, monitoring and evaluation of programs, and data analysis consultancies. He later earned his Master of Public Health and worked as an intern in monitoring and evaluation at Global Fund-Ministry of Health.