Melissa Sassi - Venture Partner, Machinelab Ventures

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Work Background

Enduring PlanetClimate Action Venture Scout

Jan. 2023Remote · RemoteI advance the Enduring Planet mission of getting more founder-friendly capital into the hands of climate entrepreneurs. If you have a U.S.-focused company where climate action is part of your narrative, reach out. My DMs are open! Enduring Planet is all about putting growth capital into the hands of climate entrepreneurs in the US. Rapid financing without dilution, personal guarantees, or collateral..Founder-friendly & super fast!

Machinelab Ventures Venture Partner

Sep. 2022Dallas, Texas, United StatesEnabling startups and scaleups to accelerate growth while bringing tech innovation to enterprises across the globe. We partner with people and companies on a mission to change the world.

Cogent BankCogent Digital Asset & Blockchain Advisory Board Member

Jun. 2022 - May. 2023Cogent Bank's Digital Asset & Blockchain Advisory Board provides industry insights relating to digital assets & blockchain technology to enable Cogent Bank to shape its policies, products, procedures & people. We lend our technical expertise to aid in the analysis & evaluation of risks, benefits & opportunities presented to Cogent. We tap industry experts & thought leaders across the ecosystem to share best practices across key considerations within the industry, such as (1) blockchain infrastructure & protocols, (2) mining, (3) regulatory & accounting standards, trading & hedge fund innovations, DAO’s, STO’s & distributed ledger projects. Our crew meets four times per year to collaborate & advance Cogent Bank's position, strategy & tactics.

IBMChief Penguin & Global Head, IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator

Sep. 2020 - Jun. 2022Dallas, Texas, United StatesEmpowering and inspiring students with access to tech skills to prepare them for the future of work. Empowering and inspiring early-stage fintech, healthtech, insurtech, regrech, edtech & music tech founders to build and scale

IBMChief Penguin & Global Head, IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator

Jan. 2019 - Aug. 2022San Francisco Bay Area

TAKMILAdvisory Board Member

Oct. 2018 - Dec. 2020With 250 million youth outside the school system, and 10% of that number living in Pakistan, our team is working to reinvent informal education. We leverage raspberry pi devices, cached content, locally-based facilitators, and condensed educational material to enable young people to complete a fifth grade education in one year.

MicrosoftProgram Manager - USA, Microsoft Airband Initiative

Mar. 2017 - Nov. 2018Redmond, Washington- Partner with local internet service providers to expand affordable internet access in unserved communities - Empower local communities to transition from consumers of technology to creators, makers, and doers empowered by access, skills, and utilization of technology - Lead thought leadership and community evangelism efforts - Encourage cloud advocacy and utilization

Washington Business WeekAdvisory Board Member

Oct. 2016 - Dec. 2018Washingtonhttp://www.wbw.org/

MentorNationsFounding Member

Mar. 2016- Empowering underserved communities to transform their lives through technology - We believe that digital literacy is a human right

MicrosoftSenior Marketing Communications Manager

Nov. 2014 - Mar. 2017Redmond, Washington- Inspired creative, digital, and production agency management excellence via tools, insights, process, and operational rigor to ensure global campaigns landed around the world - Implemented a production playbook that served as the guide for marketers to ideate and produce cost effective and creative ad campaigns - Managed celebrity talent contracting with Hollywood stars such as Common and his support for Microsoft’s ad campaigns - Led relationship management with A-list Hollywood producers such as Andrew Panay from Panay Films and Blk-Ops to transform the advertising at Microsoft into one of storytelling and empowering others to achieve more

MicrosoftSenior Manager, Marketing Sourcing

May. 2014 - Nov. 2014Sunnyvale, California- Led creative, digital, media, social, events, and production agency management across the Americas, which included in-country creative agency pitch management in Brazil and Argentina - Partnered to ensure post-merger transition of creative, digital, media, and production from Microsoft’s mobile division into the broader Microsoft umbrella following Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia