About

About Me

Korean-born, MidWestern-bred, and global citizen by design, Melissa has been a storyteller her entire career, working at the forefront of media, culture and social change as a prominent writer, entrepreneur, and speaker. Emphasizing solutions-focused journalism, she's a regular commentator and contributor for BBC News, Forbes and Rolling Stone, covering the intersection of entrepreneurship and social impact.

Additionally, Melissa is the founder of Warrior Love Productions, a production house developing media projects to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration. The company's flagship series "Border Breakers - Puerto Rico," spotlights leaders, entrepreneurs, and activists pushing the culture forward in Puerto Rico, where she currently lives.

A passionate advocate for promoting peace through entrepreneurship, Melissa launched the accelerator Resolve, which supported entrepreneurs in Lebanon as they incorporated sustainability and positive impact into their operations and offerings. Prior to co-founding Resolve, she built the humanitarian tech platform, The Toolbox, with legendary musician Peter Gabriel.

While she's a long-time promoter of tech for good, Melissa is also an advocate for indigenous wisdom, and converging modern technology with indigenous design and practices that have preserved natural ecosystems for decades. As an Ambassador for Amazon Frontlines, she's an environmental justice and lands right activist for indigenous communities everywhere.

On-camera and online, Melissa has hosted a series of events at the United Nations, the Super Bowl, and a number of interactive shows. In her early years as a TV producer for CNN and the Associated Press, she flew in zero gravity at NASA, produced business news segments from the New York Stock Exchange, and interviewed entertainment luminaries at the Emmys, Grammys, Golden Globes, and Oscars.

The 6 Fun Facts About Me

Loving Island Life

When I was adopted at five months of age, my parents picked me up from the Chicago airport on Mother's Day. While I'm not sure exactly where in Korea that I was born, I found out during my first visit to Seoul after I was adopted that a missionary who lived on the island of Jeju, known as the Hawaii of South Korea, took me to the adoption agency in the city. So I like to believe that I was born in Jeju, as I'm an island girl at heart. Hence, I now live in Puerto Rico.

Sailing the Seven Seas

I traveled to 63 countries in three years. While I can't say that I have a favorite, because I've learned so much from each and every experience, I can say that Lebanon had a profound impact on my sense of purpose and personal mission to break down borders, and be as inclusive and solutions-focused as I can as a storyteller.

Creating Flow

I write a poem every day. This was a ritual I started at age 12. I stopped after college for a number of years, for some reason. It might have been the depression, confusion and angst of my early 20s that had me feeling blocked. During that era of my life, I moved across the country three times in three years. Clearly, I had a problem staying still. Today, while I'm still a compulsive traveler, I revel in resting and writing in stillness. That's how I've learned to travel deeper.

Flying in Zero Gravity

I flew in zero gravity at NASA. In 2011, a group of aerospace engineering students asked me to be their team journalist and write about how they tested their nano-technology experiments flying in the Zero Gravity plane. I thought the experience would feel like being underwater. It didn't. As soon as the plane went into Zero G, my body shot up to the ceiling and I started knocking things over uncontrollably, while grasping to the sides of the plane. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Living that Rock 'n' Roll Life

At a young age, I went through an intense rebellious streak before I'd even hit my teenage years. Sneaking out of the house and going to rock concerts on a regular basis, I was that girl with big, flammable Aqua Net - stiff hair, sitting on some random guy's shoulders, waving a lighter in the air to the rock ballad you're either immensely proud or ashamed to admit you love. Fortunately, that phase was short-lived, and my parents survived the turmoil I put them through.

Manifesting My Dreams

In 2000-2001, my company relocated me from NYC to SF. Every morning, I blasted Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill,” as I drove with the top down over the Bay Bridge to the city. Fast forward 10 years, and Peter Gabriel and I became co-founders of a humanitarian tech platform, which led me living in London for three years, and then traveling the world.

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