Melissa Weiler Gerber (she/her) is the Founder and Principal of CollectivePromise LLC, a consultancy dedicated to helping mission-driven organizations move effectively through major organizational changes such as executive leadership transitions, staff unionizations, and launching policy and advocacy initiatives. Through strategy setting, leadership counseling, and the supplying of added capacity at these labor-intensive junctures, CollectivePromise supports management teams and boards so their organizations come through these transformative opportunities stronger on the other side.
Melissa brings her nearly 25 years of social justice CEO experience, extensive board service, lead management CBA negotiating expertise, and legal background to this work. Melissa has led through unionization, pivotal leadership transitions, funding threats, political and financial crises, the launch and redesign of advocacy initiatives to complement programming, renaming and rebranding, and leadership vision development and implementation.
In her most recent role, Melissa led AccessMatters, a Philadelphia-based public health nonprofit focused on ensuring access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services and information. During her 14-year tenure, Melissa led the organization through far-reaching strategic planning, restructuring, and rebranding; led through an ongoing cultural evolution focused on continuous reexamination of internal and external work and relationships through the lenses of anti-racism, inclusivity, and trauma-informed leadership; helped the agency achieved financial stability in a volatile field; and led her management team in working with the AccessMatters Union to develop the organization’s first collective bargaining agreement, bringing its practices and policies in greater alignment with its mission and values.
Prior to joining AccessMatters, Melissa served for over a decade as the Executive Director of WOMEN’S WAY, a non-profit focused on gender equity. A lawyer by training, Melissa also served as the Senior Staff Attorney at the Homeless Advocacy Project and began her career as an Associate at the law firm of Morgan Lewis specializing in healthcare and insurance regulatory matters.
Melissa has been active in many community organizations including Philabundance, Philadelphia VIP, Delaware Valley Grantmakers (now Philanthropy Network), NPower PA, and the Center for Responsible Funding. Melissa also has been active on key advisory boards such as the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s HIV Fetal Infant Mortality Review Community Action Team and its Maternal Mortality ROAR (Refinement of Actionable Recommendations) Team, served as past chair of the Board of Directors of the Family Planning Councils of America and past President of the Alliance of PA [Family Planning] Councils.
Melissa currently serves as a Board Member, Audit Committee and Community Advisory Board Member of the Reinvestment Fund, a community development financial institution, and Board Member and Audit Committee Member of the Committee of Seventy, a good government and fair elections focused nonprofit.
Melissa graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a BA in History and a certificate with honors from the American Studies program. She earned a JD, cum laude, from Georgetown University. Melissa lives and works in Philadelphia, and enjoys being a curious traveler, hiking, through walks, running, supporting ethical dark chocolate makers, and cheering on her young adult offspring, Bea and Oscar.
LinkedIn: Melissa Weiler Gerber