Why We Exist
We’ve entered an era with a lot of different forces pulling us away from one another. Aided by social media, screen time, anxiety-spiking news cycles, the onset of AI — Americans post-pandemic are still socially distanced.
LIGHT STRUCTURE is a counterbalancing force, insisting that the human experience should involve more human-to-human interaction and regard and that all we need is a little light prompting.
About Melissa
I spent the first decade of my career doing ‘community’ work. Whether for digital communities for creative types (SoundCloud, Kickstarter) or in person convening (co-founding a brick and mortar community event space, New Women Space), I have learned the formative practices that create powerful communities.
Forever curious about how social interactions can be fostered and deepened, I’ve helped produce more than a hundred community-powered events, including: professional accountability programs, workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs, summits for the freelancing-curious, outdoor film festivals, global meetup days and even a full-fledged circus.
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My event planning resume reaches far back into childhood where you could commonly find me creating social clubs, producing plays and music videos, project managing my 5th grade birthday, bringing friends together for a ‘fruit tasting party’ as a kid (don’t ask).
I’ve always been intrigued by what shifts in human interaction when people are given guidance on how to show up. My creative mediums are stated intentions, roles, prompts, and instructions on how to be together.
My formal interest in examining human relational dynamics began while creating my own undergraduate degree titled “Technology, Culture, and Society” and essentially writing a book (my thesis) inquiring into what changes about a community when it’s virtual. What was “a community” in the first place?
Graduating into the SF Bay Area heyday of Silicon Valley funded startups, I entered the workforce where any recent grad could hope to land: a cushy startup job. I realized my ‘community’ background was desired by companies that wanted to coalesce a sense of attachment and positive emotion around their product. At SoundCloud and Kickstarter, I learned the limitations of online ‘community teams’ and ultimately decided to try my hand at creating a brick and mortar community event space.
I co-founded New Women Space, a vibrant and affirming community-led event space centered on inclusivity, gender equity, creative expression and celebration of identity in Brooklyn, New York. Figuring out the business model and suite of services for NWS was a crash course in figuring out how to keep an accessibility minded, supportive project cultivation space not just open for business but sustainably empower the founding team and volunteer team.
At NWS and then with envelopeA+D, an architectural design firm with a public space activation arm, I helped produce more than 350 community-powered events. My personal projects included: professional accountability programs, workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs, summits for the freelancing-curious, outdoor film festivals, global meetup days and even a full-fledged circus.
Fast forward to today, post-pandemic and I now run a life design coaching platform called Coherence Studio, where I help people build work that centers their creative gifts.
LIGHT STRUCTURE is my social art practice, the arm of my work that extends out into real space and time and tries to lovingly shake us up. While I see signs of life, neighborly kindness, and our willingness to share space together, I believe that we experienced personal and collective trauma during the pandemic that are still recovering from. The tried and true methods of creating invitations for people to come relate to one another are more important than ever before.
Events Resume
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Coach and Facilitator
At Coherence Studio, I support independent creatives build custom work they love.
I offer 1:1 coaching, group programs, a signature course, and inspirational interviews and guides on Coherence Podcast.
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Senior Community Strategist
Designed and ran programs for thousands of neighborhood "Leads" across the country who volunteer for their neighborhoods to help with community moderation and creating welcoming, inclusive environments.
Including curated panels, prototyping new community roles for select neighborhoods, and co-producing an anti-bias training.
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Director of Meetup Faciliation
Experience Lab was a 6-month experience-based certificate program that helps recent college graduates develop skills and build a professional portfolio of work to transition into high-demand fields.
The program included an in-person multi-day meetup provided an opportunity for all the students in the cohort to work together on projects, build community, and prepare for their field experiences.
I facilitated a space that welcomed all participants, set a tone of challenge and support, and made sure the meetup ran smoothly across multiple days. -
Program Designer
From film screenings and panel conversations, movement events like roller skating and fitness, performance art, carnivals and even circuses, I devised and executed equity focused, community-serving events and programs aligned with project goals, timelines, budgets for annual programming season with $200K budget across two high profile public sites in San Francisco - PROXY and NOW Hunters Point
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Co-Founder and Program Director
I co-founded a community event space in Brooklyn, NY called New Women Space. During my time at the helm, I helped produce 300+ events led by emerging leaders and organizers who saw NWS as a supportive project cultivation space to bring their offering to the public.
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Event Producer
I ran three day-long summits helping professionals enter into the “solo” space by teaching self-employment skills and fostering a community with other self-starters.
The programming featured all original workshop content and playbooks for a 3 hour workshop on Career Design informed by industry best practices and research data, boasted a curated outside speaker list, and attracted sponsorship.
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Alumni Community Manager
I was the friendly face on the other side for graduates of Seth's Godin's altMBA program, a 4-week intensive course for budding leaders, ensuring that participants had a seamless transition from student to alumni.
I bridged communication between HQ and 2500+ alumni community through monthly newsletters, alumni updates, virtual check in calls, quarterly in-person Meetups across 20+ cities worldwide.