Our Team
Melissa Uhl
Chief Strategy Officer
Melissa guides Elemental’s long-term vision and growth, developing next-generation investment vehicles and incubating new funds and partnerships to advance the organization’s mission and expand the platform’s impact.
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As Chief Strategy Officer, Melissa focuses on what’s next—guiding Elemental’s evolution, building next-generation investment vehicles, and advancing the growth of the broader Elemental platform.
Over the past decade, she has helped define Elemental’s long-term trajectory, incubating new funds–like Earthshot Ventures–and new investment strategies—like scaling a community-based deployment model from Hawaii to California—that help expand Elemental’s reach and deepen its impact. Melissa started in a Policy & Strategy position before becoming Elemental’s first Chief of Staff in 2017 and first Chief Growth Officer in 2022.
Today, she works across investment, growth, governance, partnerships and policy efforts, helping align strategy with execution.
She serves on Elemental’s investment committee and was a founding Board Member of Earthshot Ventures. Melissa also serves as Climate Advisor at Emerson Collective and is part of the Organizational & Strategic Planning committee for the Hawaii Land Trust.
Prior to Elemental
Prior to Elemental, Melissa practiced commercial litigation, real estate, and project finance law. She has also worked for the Environmental Working Group, the United Nations Development Program, and the Natural Capital Alliance. Melissa grew up in Hawaii and is a graduate of Santa Clara University (where she studied Ecology) and the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law (where she focused on Land Use and Environmental Law).
Outside of the office
You can find Melissa running after her gregarious baby or longboarding (or at least dreaming about it). She also enjoys trying new recipes in the kitchen and loves a good sci-fi or fantasy series. She splits her time between San Francisco and Maui with her husband, little girl and two Maine Coons.