Movement Maker Spotlight: Social Impact Strategist Melinda Jackson
Meet Melinda Jackson, social impact strategist, philanthropy advisor, and founder & principal at Melinda Makes Change LLC.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Background: My background is in social impact design for startups including for-profit social enterprises and nonprofit organizations.
My Why: I've always been very moved to want to make a difference for as long as I can remember. Even when I was young, I was preoccupied with things like equity, access, and justice in the world. I wasn't exactly sure how it would take form, but creating impact and helping other marginalized folks was a strong driver for the things I chose to occupy my life with. My path was definitely not a linear one and took me from teaching English in France, to working my way up within a large US-based nonprofit social enterprise, to founding and building my own nonprofit from the ground up, to working in global supply chain operations for two huge corporations. Then, I finally found my path as an educator and design & strategy specialist within the social impact space.
A-ha Moment: I realized I was meant to do this work when I had people coming to me nonstop wanting my help with their ideas. I felt invigorated by helping them see things from another angle or thinking through another creative solution to their challenge. I became the go-to person in my circle for people who wanted to launch impactful ideas and I found myself advising people that were in prominent positions in my industry and who even I looked up to, so I knew this was something I needed to explore.
How I’m Making a Difference Right Now: I am doing the work to lower the barrier to entry into the social impact space for BIWOC and non-binary POC by creating accessible tools and resources to guide them through the process of starting and scaling a social change focused initiative - whether for-profit or nonprofit. I'm also working to redefine how we engage in philanthropy as a collective and hope to deploy more resources to BIPOC-led social change initiatives that address systems and root cause issues from high-net-worth philanthropists committed to disruptive change.
My Self-Care Recipe For Success: For me, it's rest+stillness+journaling+laughter and occasionally (or more than occasionally) a good drink. I find that when I'm rested, feel supported, and am more tuned into myself everything I do flourishes.
Advice for Movement Makers: Get clear on you and always stay in tune with your inner compass. The world often tries to make us doubt our own feelings and experiences, but intuition and moving from a place of intention is incredibly powerful and will lead you down the necessary paths to fulfill the work you're led to do.
Keep In Touch: Feel free to follow me on IG (@melindamakeschange) on Clubhouse (@melmakeschange) and on my website (melindamakeschange.com). You can subscribe to my amazing email list by clicking the link in my Instagram bio.