Melinda Steffy (she/her) loves when creative practice and social impact collide. Her 20-year career in the nonprofit sector has been shaped by her own perspective as a visual artist and musician. She brings innate creativity and nimbleness to her work, making complex ideas come to life through careful process, attention to detail, and abundant empathy.
In 2020, Melinda founded Concentric Strategy LLC, a strategy and communications consulting practice based in Philadelphia. Concentric Strategy brings an ecosystem mindset to help organizations navigate significant changes, embed antiracism and radical inclusion, and tell their stories in clear and compelling ways. Melinda has worked with numerous arts and education organizations, including Bartram’s Garden, The Center for Architecture and Design, Delaware Shakespeare, Greater Philadelphia Extracurricular Collaborative, Fleisher Art Memorial, Need in Deed, Philadelphia Robotics Coalition, Philanthropy Network, and World Cafe Live, among others. Services include strategic planning, communications planning, content strategy, key messaging, copywriting and design, group facilitation, board and staff retreats, and more.
Previously, Melinda served as Executive Director of Philadelphia music education nonprofit LiveConnections for 8+ years. From start-up phase through significant growth, Melinda built infrastructure and expanded programming, fundraising, communications, and operations. When long-time partner World Cafe Live approached LiveConnections about a possible merger, she was instrumental in the decision-making, due diligence (legal, financial, operational), and planning processes that led the two organizations to combine into a single nonprofit.
She previously held staff positions at The Music School of Delaware, SteegeThomson Communications, and Woodland Montessori School; was a founding board member of the Wilmington Classical Guitar Society; and served on the board of the Chestnut Street Singers. From 2021-2022, Melinda co-hosted the podcast “So, where do we go from here?” with Youngmoo Kim of Drexel University, speaking with Philadelphia’s creative community about resetting as we emerged from the pandemic. Melinda is a LEADERHIP Philadelphia alum.
