Melissa Benn

Experience

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  AmeriCorps

  Oct 2009 - Jul 2010

  NCCC Corps Member

  - Construction for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana. - Maintenance, cooking, and cleaning for Camp Hope volunteer base camp in New Orleans, Louisiana.- English, math, and French tutor at Pioneer High School, Woodland, California. - Fuel reduction and building restoration at Camp de Benneville Pines in Angelus Oaks, California.

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  UN Environment Programme

  May 2013 - Aug 2013

  Environmental Policy Intern

  - Supported World Environment Day, UNEP's Capitol Hill Oceans Week display and Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey.- Attended and shared notes on conferences, launches, and meetings. - Assisted with climate change and resource efficiency projects including sustainable consumption and production, sustainable buildings and cities. - Assisted with outreach to various UNEP stakeholders. - Researched and drafted reports.

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  Chemonics International

  Aug 2014 - Aug 2018

  Agriculture and Food Security Practice:- Managed a team of two associates. - Executed technical writing assignments and provided input in strategic new business development. - Created conference proposal submissions and represented Chemonics at technical industry events. FEWS NET Markets & Trade: - Served as the Markets and Trade (M&T) Operations Coordinator of the M&T team for the USAID-funded, five year Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) project.- Supported the home office M&T team with the logistical and administrative support necessary to assure the technical team is able to successfully complete a number of market decision support products. Worked with a large, multi-million dollar USAID budget, many expatriate personnel, subcontractors, and challenging contractual issues. - Assisted the M&T team to provide quality control for consultant deliverables and helped to ensure that M&T related activities and products were delivered in a timely manner. - Contributed to technical work, such as literature reviews, secondary data entry and analysis, preparing charts and graphics, and data and reference management. Show less Agriculture and Food Security Practice:- Contributed to thought-leadership, new business development, project management, and management and leadership. - Conducted technical research, and developed primers and other technical tools and resources. - Established professional connections in the home- and field-offices to facilitate the flow of technical information for application to development challenges. Project Management:- Served as a member of the project management unit (PMU) for the USAID-funded, $200 million, five year Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) project. - Worked from the home office to provide administrative and management support to FEWS NET project offices in East Africa, including the regional Kenya office, South Sudan, and Sudan. - Monitored monthly budget expenditures and reforecasts according to project needs. - Recruited and fielded consultants and expatriate staff. - Facilitated procurement processes including the development of RFPs and drafting of subcontracts and leases. - Provided extensive support to USAID business development efforts. Show less - Provided targeted support to the President and CEO, Executive Vice Presidents, CFO, Executive Management Team, and the Board of Directors- Backstopped Chemonics’ membership to external organizations and coordinates logistics for industry outreach efforts for annual conferences, dinners, and working group events held on site. Attended such events to promote external industry relations and deepen understandings of the prevailing thought leadership.- Facilitated operational logistics for the Executive Division and Executive Management Team. - Took on corporate research assignments, coordinates Executive Management Team weekly meetings, and contributes to corporate communications by producing materials such as meeting agendas, notes, and monthly digests. - Carried out corporate and project related research.- Participated in proposal teams to provide research, writing, and administrative support to proposals and the new business unit in varying regions and practice areas. Show less Provided general human resources assistance by supporting the Employee Services department in an effort to capture all local national employees’ personal and employment information into the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) for 3,500 employees. Various tasks and duties include data entry into the HRIS/payroll system, creating PINs for local hire employees, coordinating closely with Lifecycle, Benefits Payroll Compliance, and Finance managers to accomplish tasks, and comply with Chemonics policies and standard operating procedures.Experience developing new business proposals with USAID, including past performance write-ups and researching and creating benefits documentation for 20 different countries. Show less

  • Manager: Agriculture and Food Security Practice and FEWS NET Markets & Trade

    Apr 2018 - Aug 2018

  • Senior Associate: Agriculture and Food Security Practice and Project Management

    Jul 2016 - Apr 2018

  • Associate: Executive Office

    Apr 2015 - Jun 2016

  • Temporary Associate: Human Resources

    Aug 2014 - Apr 2015
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  Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

  Aug 2018 - Sept 2020

  Senior Program Analyst, Agriculture & Economic Diversification Programs

  - Managed $25m in six grants focused on investment facilitation, women's entrepreneurship, resilience planning, and agriculture diversification in Malawi. - Designed and directed innovative solicitations, including a pitch day for a $10m Center of Excellence, and created department-wide standard operating procedures for grants. - Managed a three-day international summit with 200+ local/international attendees.- Supported the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI) in Malawi to catalyze innovation and investment into alternative livelihoods for smallholder farmers in tobacco-dependent Malawi. Show less

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  Chemonics International

  Nov 2020 - Jan 2021

  Temporary Agriculture & Food Security Practice Team Manager

  - Designed, implemented, and analyzed a companywide survey on perceptions of the Agriculture & Food Security Practice team. Presented survey results and recommendations to help determine strategic priorities. - Wrote an internal brief and an external Marketlinks blog on an innovative agriculture app in Georgia.- Supported the team in various collateral and research materials.

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  Resonance

  Dec 2020 - Oct 2021

  Innovation and Business Development Consultant

  Strategy and Innovation: - Strategic development for the USAID Promoting Excellence in Private Sector Engagement (PEPSE) project, in support of the newly established Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) Innovation Team in the development of their mission, strategy, and operational plan. Conducted over 50 interviews with key internal and external staff resulting in a work plan and foundational strategy charter for implementing innovative US Government humanitarian assistance. - Developed a scoring tool and access to finance strategy to connect 10,000 micro and small Syrian-led enterprises in Turkey to financing. - Developed a Knowledge Management and Learning Framework to mainstream Private Sector Engagement in humanitarian programming Business Development:- Managed capture processes: leads the organization of the process and supports research, partner discussions, recruitment, strategy, and more. - Managed a team of 11 staff and 7 partners to develop a $23m USAID proposal for sustainable fisheries management & conservation in Indonesia.- Technical writing, final report and proposal editing. Show less

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  Ashoka

  Jan 2021 - May 2021

  Strategic Partnerships Intern

  - Supported the design of a new unrestricted fundraising strategy focused upon supporting girls of color and other historically underrepresented cohorts in becoming the next generation of Changemakers. - Supported the development of pitch materials to various clients for Changemakers’ brand and products. - Supported the development of a structure to enable Changemakers to fundraise $300,000 in unrestricted funding by August 2021.

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  Food Systems Foresight

  Apr 2021 - Jul 2021

  Senior Consultant: Innovation Workstream Lead

  Conducted a discrete research activity to identify innovations related to behavior change and food safety that could serve as Analogous Inspiration for inspiring food safety interventions in informal markets in Nigeria. Worked within the Google Design Sprint process, following the tenants of Human-Centered Design. Ensured quality and rigor in process and output.

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  Unova

  Jul 2022 - Aug 2022

  Business Development MBA Intern

  Unova is a blockchain network and web3 infrastructure running the UON cryptocurrency & designed for linking the stakeholders involved in supply chains, with a special focus on the food industry. MBA Intern focusing on business development at a high-growth, early-stage start-up.

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  Self-employed

  Jan 2023 - Apr 2023

  Independent Consultant

  Independent consulting with various clients. Services include: business development, strategy, federal contracting & grants.

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  Pioneer

  Apr 2023 - now

  Owns customer pipeline and accountable for success. Jumping in when needed and where needed. Joined as employee #1, pre-seed.General operations, strategy, business development, customer success, culture development, product discovery, research, customer discovery, recruiting, and sales. Jumping in when needed and where needed.

  • Founding Head of Customer Success

    Jul 2023 - now

  • Founding Operations Lead

    Apr 2023 - Jul 2023
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  USDA

  Jun 2023 - Jul 2023

  Independent Reviewer

  Independent Reviewer for a USDA program.