Elish Melchiade
Hailing from the “Sunshine State”, this California native has somehow migrated to the opposite coast and currently resides in Albany, NY. In between, Elish has had the opportunity to travel to multiple countries and even lived abroad in Argentina for a year. Due to some interesting career circumstances, her job history has taken a wild ride through a few industries including SaaS, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, legal, telecom, and automotive. The companies she worked at ranged from startups to Fortune 500. She believes this varied background makes her very adaptable when it comes to advising others on various career paths and aids her in creating dynamic and industry-specific resumes.
Elish currently holds a B.S. in Business Administration, with a minor in Marketing from California State University, Northridge. In addition to her degree, she also has her PHR certification (Professional in Human Resources), and a DEI certification from ESSEC Business School. Her passion is working with companies on empathy and equity, as well as creating inclusive spaces to invite in a more diverse, and robust workforce. This passion also crosses over into her personal life, as she created and runs a DEI Committee at her children’s school which directly influences the school’s curriculum to foster learning that does not leave any child unrepresented and enables the much needed conversations with children that will create more empathetic and understanding adults in the future.
On to the fun facts! Nicknamed “Doogie Howser” in High School, Elish (in a previous career path), was the youngest at her High School to take a Medical School level class at the age of 15. She had originally been accepted at UC Irvine for pre-med, but then switched to a Business major – following in her father’s footsteps. She has fed sharks in Hawaii, earned her Black Belt in Taekwondo, and even waved to Steve Irwin at his zoo in Australia. In her spare time (does that exist?), she spends time with her family going on local adventures, doing charity and volunteer work, and watching Netflix with a margarita in hand. You can always count on her for a good laugh when you’re down, and a hug whenever needed.