Melissa Eystad is president of World Spirit Consulting (WSC), whose mission is to support organizations that build a better world. Prior to founding WSC, she served as Vice President of Member Services for the Minnesota Council on Foundations, a regional association of 180 grantmaking foundations and corporate giving programs. In this role, she led the development and delivery of learning opportunities and resources, and facilitated connections among grantmakers.
Prior to joining MCF in 2002, Eystad worked in volunteer development and volunteer management training and technical assistance for more than 18 years. She has worked in the corporate, government and nonprofit sectors nationally and internationally, including national director of volunteer development for AFS Intercultural Programs USA from 1999 to 2001. While with the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 1997, she published Measuring the Difference Volunteers Make: A Guide to Outcome Evaluation for Volunteer Programs and was an editor for e-Volunteerism’s All-Volunteer Groups section from 2000 to 2002. She currently serves as board chair for Partners for Women’s Equality, a nonprofit focused on crafting and implementing partnerships that develop organizational capacity and support leadership development for marginalized, indigenous women around the world.
