Melissa Fisher

Executive, Founder, and Operator

Melissa Fisher builds companies at the intersection of operations, strategy, and mission, turning complex ideas into businesses, products, and systems built to work in practice.

She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Maui Grown Remedies, leading operating strategy, commercialization, and go-to-market execution in a complex, regulated category.

Melissa is also the founder of Charlie’s Bookshelf, a picture-book membership she developed after experiencing the challenges of sustaining a steady stream of books at home and surveying more than 500 caregivers about reading with young children.

Melissa began her career in education and international development, including teaching and curriculum development in Nepal, Chicago and Honolulu, and literacy work with preliterate adult learners in New York. She later moved into data analytics, product management, and operational leadership and has since spent more than a decade building and scaling products and businesses.

She is trained in development economics and holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy for Development, with a specialization in the Global Economy, from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She also pursued graduate studies in Political Science at the University of Chicago and holds undergraduate degrees in Political Science and English Literature, with a minor in Philosophy, along with teaching certifications through Cambridge University.