Mel O.

Summary

Mel Ochoa is the Chief Operating Officer and a General Partner at Landmark Ventures, a strategic and financial advisory firm that offers a unique combination of venture development and global investment banking services. Landmark also organizes the Social Innovation Summit – www.socialinnovation.com – to drive transformation across impact initiatives within CSR, ESG, DEI, and more. Previously, Mel served as the Senior Director of Marketing & Communications as part of the leadership team at Achievement First, a high-performing network of 30+ college-prep, K-12 public charter schools in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. Prior to Achievement First, he was the Acting Director of Marketing at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, Calif. – a family destination dedicated to art, science, and hands-on fun for children up to age 8. Formerly, Mel was Vice President of Corporate Affairs and a co-founder at BridgePath, an enterprise software provider to the staffing industry. While at BridgePath, he was responsible for the company’s public relations strategy, recruiting program, and internal operations. BullHorn, Inc. acquired BridgePath in 2002. Past experience also includes work with Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer, a U.S. congressman in Washington, D.C., and Schwartz Communications, a leading high-tech PR agency. From a civic perspective, Mel sits on the boards of Partners for Justice, New Rising Ventures, SparkWheel, and WorldQuant University, and has been involved with several nonprofit organizations including Code.org, Akilah Institute, Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, lovefutbol.org, Building Readiness in Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs, and the California Alumni Association. Mel holds a bachelor’s degree with majors in History and Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University, where he was a Catherine B. Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship and a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Fellow. He is also a member of the National Eagle Scout Association.