Melissa Sines is a dynamic leader and strategist and one of the co-founders of Colmena Consulting. Melissa brings deep expertise to her work with public sector organizations, focusing on building collective vision, nurturing emergent strategy, and developing and holding meaningful spaces for building community, learning together, and supporting leadership at all levels for nonprofit and philanthropy boards of directors, executive leadership, and program and operations staff.
Prior to co-founding Colmena Consulting, Melissa worked as the Programs and Knowledge Director at PEAK Grantmaking, where she was the chief architect and author of their learning strategy and programming centered around operationalizing equitable grantmaking practices. Ahead of joining PEAK, she was the Director of Education & Accreditation at Maryland Nonprofits and the Standards for Excellence Institute. Before her time as a nonprofit employee and while pursuing her MPA, Melissa was a consultant that supported leaders at nonprofit and funding institutions to develop strategy and improve their boards, management, and structures. Throughout her career and her work as a volunteer and organizer in her own community, she has touched every part of nonprofit governance and management structure and processes: as a founder, as a funder, as a board member, a committee member, a programs professional, an event planner, an operations and financial professional, a database administrator, a fundraiser, and a volunteer manager.
At her core, Melissa’s purpose is to build deep and authentic connections, share knowledge, and be the voice that questions assumptions and challenges the status quo. She is a sense-maker, connector, and network strategist that can help navigate the space between what we are and what we have the ability to become – a sector full of people, movements, and organizations that live our values through our work.
