Melissa is motivated by the joy she finds in bringing people and ideas together. This led her to events where she can create meaningful moments, experiment with new formats and explore fresh ways of connection.

Born in Hamburg and raised in Istanbul, Melissa added to her intercultural competencies by studying Italian Language and Literature. Growing up between four languages, she’s accumulated a strong sense for people and a fascination for what we all have in common. This led to her interest in community building, culture and the arts.

After coordinating international corporate social responsibility meetings while in university, her passion for music eventually led her to Berlin where she worked on workshops, press relations and communications for music events. Through working at an international media, communication and events company, she gained experience in project and speaker management while collaborating with a range of well-known clients such as The British Council. She collected several years of organisational experience in three continents, and having worked in both supportive and managerial roles in the event industry, she possesses a sound overview of the sector.

At THE CATALYSTS, Melissa enriches the curation and moderation of conferences through her research and supports our consulting clients on selected projects, while always keeping an eye out for sustainability topics at large. Her project management skills make our more complex and international projects efficient and the communication around them clear.

In her spare time she paints and sings in a post-punk band. She’s fluent in Turkish, German, English and Italian.