Melaina Spitzer

About Melaina Spitzer

I believe the strongest leaders are those who create clarity in complex organizations, care deeply about people, and build organizations where doing good and doing well reinforce one another. For more than two decades, I have worked at the intersection of leadership development, organizational change, and social impact.Today, I serve as Vice President and Partner at Leadership Pipeline Institute, where I advise executive teams on leadership architecture, succession strategy, role clarity, and leadership transitions. I help organizations reduce leadership risk and align leadership capability to business strategy.Before joining LPI, I was Senior Consulting Partner and Practice Leader at Blanchard, where I built and launched the Building Resilience program, generating $500K in new revenue and reaching leaders across 97 countries.My work spans Fortune 500 companies, global institutions, and mission-driven organizations operating at scale. Over the years, I have partnered with hundreds of organizations, including The World Bank, Sony Pictures, Toyota, AbbVie, and Special Olympics, to support leadership transitions, talent strategy, and enterprise performance.Along the way, I have also founded an adventure travel startup and freelanced as a journalist, with my work heard nationally on public radio. I’ve had the honor of serving in a variety of leadership roles, including Founder and Principal of Spitzer Consulting, Director of CSR at Yerba Madre, and Chief Innovation Officer at Peace Thru Forgiveness. Having lived and worked across Southern Africa, Europe, and South America, I bring a global, systems-level perspective to leadership work and am fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.I am energized by working with leaders and organizations that care about both results and humanity. If you are thinking about leadership bench strength, succession risk, or how to help leaders succeed in new roles through clear leadership portraits and a strong pipeline, I would love to connect and geek out together.

Experience

1. Vice President & Partner

   Leadership Pipeline Institute

   Feb 2026 — Present · CA, US

   Advise C-suite and senior leadership teams on leadership architecture, succession, role clarity, and leadership transitions.• Design and facilitate enterprise engagements that strengthen leadership pipelines, reduce succession risk, and align leadership capability to business strategy.• Expand market presence across the Western U.S. through executive relationship development, client partnerships, and advisory-led business growth.• Partner with executives during growth and transformation to clarify leadership expectations and improve readiness across leadership layers.• Lead executive conversations that translate complex leadership challenges into practical, scalable systems.

Education

• Accomplishment Coaching

  Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Leadership and Coaching

  2017 — 2018

• Brown University

  B.A., History of Divided Societies, Political Science, Journalism

  2001 — 2005

• IGC Coach Training

  Ontological Coaching

  2015 — 2016

• Universidad del Salvador

  MA, International Relations: Peace Conflict and Security

  2011 — 2012

Skills

• Photojournalism
• Capacity Building
• Life Coaching
• Press Releases
• Peace Education
• Blogging
• Sustainable Development
• Peacebuilding
• International Development
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Nonprofits
• Executive Coaching
• Spanish
• Human Rights
• Broadcast Journalism
• Strategic Communications
• Editing
• Management
• New Media
• International Relations
• Teaching