Melissa Durda is Senior Director, Bridging Leadership at Synergos, a global nonprofit organization that brings people together to help solve complex issues around the world by advancing bridging leadership, which builds trust and collective action.

Melissa also oversees the Synergos Spiritual Civilization and Funders of Mindfulness & Spirituality programs for members of the Global Philanthropists Circle, where we seek to increase awareness of the ideals that drive people to work towards the greater good in order to accelerate positive change. She is a certified holistic life coach and the founder of Global Artisan Life.

Prior to this, Melissa created and managed a Philanthropy Program at Vaclav Havel’s Forum 2000 Foundation. In this role she worked with private philanthropists promoting human rights, civil society, and democracy. Melissa’s nonprofit project management experience is in a variety of fields (education, children, nutrition, advocacy, emergency response, water, media) on projects in the Czech Republic, Africa, Asia, and the United States.

Melissa has a MSc. in European Political Economy: Transition from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Relations from the University of Virginia.