Meli has dedicated her career to improving the lives of children, expanding access to housing, and assisting in the growth and development of small business in New Orleans. Meli has 18 years of experience working with New Orleans-based non-profits in a variety of roles, including Managing Director, Development Director and Vice President and Executive Director and has expertise in managing strategic partnerships, board recruitment and development, executive-level hiring and fund development design and implementation.
Meli is from Akron, Ohio and has called New Orleans home since 2004. Meli holds Bachelor of Arts degrees from Loyola University, Chicago and Masters Degree from Loyola University, New Orleans.
Colleen is originally from Ithaca, NY and spent 10 amazing years calling New Orleans home. She began her career as a City Year AmeriCorps member and ever since has been an advocate for educational equity. Colleen has over 10 years of experience working with nonprofits and brings expertise in program and people management, staff recruitment, professional development creation and delivery, fund research and development, and grant writing.
Colleen holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware and currently lives in central New Jersey with her family.
In her professional life, Kir is interested in contributing to a more just and liberated human existence, while simultaneously acknowledging that this often involves relinquishing and redistributing her own privileges and power. With a background in neuroscience, Kir spent her initial post-college years in scientific research before coming to development and writing as a more fitting and fulfilling way to use her skills. She has spent the past 10+ years working for nonprofits in New York City and her chosen home of New Orleans, where she came in 2016.
Kir has a Bachelor of Arts with high honors in Neuroscience from Oberlin College. She can often be spotted running around New Orleans, having earned the name “Running Lady” from her neighbors. She is qualified for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials.
After many years of success in the for-profit sector, Elissa felt called to make a broader impact helping nonprofits and community organizations create lasting, meaningful change.
With more than two decades of experience spanning technology, healthcare, and retail, she has led initiatives in customer success, operations, and supply chain. Earlier roles helped shape her ability to connect with people, solve complex problems, and build trusted relationships across teams. Elissa has built a career around connection, and at every stage, her approach remains grounded in empathy, authenticity, and service.
At the heart of Elissa’s work is her passion for making the world better today, and her hope for a brighter, more equitable future for her children and for all people.
Elissa is from Akron, Ohio and lives in Nashville, TN with her family.
Amelia Roxan Bird is a fundraising strategist and communications partner who helps small and growing nonprofits build the systems, stories, and relationships that move resources. She has served as fractional development staff for multiple organizations, designing fundraising plans, writing grants and impact reports, leading prospect research, and producing donor communications that drive giving and stewardship. In previous roles, she co-led the organization’s annual fundraising strategy and helped raise $6M from foundations, corporations, government, and individuals. She also led strategic planning and organizational design efforts, producing a shared-leadership model and data strategy that positioned the organization for scale.
Amelia brings 15 years of experience building people-centered systems inside mission-driven organizations. She is trained in design thinking, anti-racism, and people-centered management, and currently works at the intersection of fundraising, strategy, and narrative, helping teams clarify what they’re building, align their operations to that vision, and tell their story in ways that unlock investment.
