Malissa is the Vice President of Resource Development at Ocean Conservancy, where she is responsible for helping the organization reach its revenue, visibility and partnership goals. To accomplish this, Malissa draws on her 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors leading fundraising strategy and management and organizational development efforts.

Before joining Ocean Conservancy in 2015, Malissa worked to advance global reproductive health and rights at PAI in Washington, DC, where she directed the organization’s foundation partnerships program and strategic initiatives. Malissa is passionate about entrepreneurial approaches to social change and bringing new initiatives to scale. During her time living in San Francisco—with an office view of its magnificent bay and the Golden Gate Bridge—Malissa managed a portfolio of projects at the Tides Center, a fiscal sponsorship organization that supports social change ventures across a broad array of progressive issues including Latinx health, solar energy expansion, family violence prevention, democracy work and environmental health.  Malissa was also a founding member of Tsunami Fund (now Tides Advocacy), an affiliated 501(c)(4) organization that built political power and capacity for fiscally sponsored social ventures. Malissa has a B.A. in International Relations from American University and completed the Harvard University Course in Exponential Fundraising Intensive in 2014.