Development Operations Manager
< 1 year of service
Chicago, IL
Melissa brings almost a decade of experience across a wide range of development and nonprofit operations roles including donor database administration, partner development and events management. Her focus has been on secondary and higher education organizations that enable and empower young women to dream big and pursue their goals. For the past several years, she has served the development team at Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart, a small, all-girls high school in downtown Chicago serving a diverse, urban student community. At Josephinum she has been instrumental in helping to raise and manage funds from hundreds of individual and institutional donors in support of student scholarships and college/career preparation programs. She also helped lead the development and execution of new workforce development programs at Oak Point University, partnering with local hospital groups to provide low cost opportunities for young, urban women to enter the healthcare industry.
Melissa lives in Chicago with her husband, two young adult daughters and her rescue cat, Ginger. She is passionate about animal rescue and enjoys being an occasional foster mom to a dog or cat in need. Despite the long, gray winter, she loves living in Chicago and especially enjoys the beautiful lakefront. She also loves to travel abroad and explore new places with family and friends. Melissa holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Clarkson University and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. She credits much of her success to the women mentors she’s had throughout her career and looks forward to contributing to Step Up’s mission.
What has your mentor taught you?
I am fortunate to have had two very special woman mentors in my professional life - Valerie and Julie - that recognized something in me and gave me opportunities that I wasn't quite qualified for. They saw something in me that I didn't even recognize myself and gave me launching pads to grow my career in technology sales. They taught me to stand up for myself and to be confident in my skills and experience, in a very male-dominated field.
What do you enjoy most about working at Step Up?
What I enjoy most about Step Up, aside from the amazing impact our programs are having on young women, is being able to work with so many accomplished and passionate women - from all different fields - who care so genuinely about supporting the next generation of female leaders. As the mother of two 20-something daughters, it inspires me and gives me hope for their futures.
