Melinda J.

Melinda is a lifelong nerd who combines her love of games and her fascination with people's behavior into an award-winning expertise. With 15+ years in leadership, Melinda has advised, built, and led early-stage venture-backed companies through moments of uncertainty, growth, and reinvention. She served as Co-CEO of Mindstone, where she joined pre-PMF and helped build one of the first practical AI training platforms from the ground up, shaping the strategy, product, and team that took it to product-market fit and profitability with a 25,000+ member community. Most recently, she served as Interim COO at Chatsie, stepping in during a pivotal transition to reset strategy, define a viable business model, rebuild sales and operations, and leave the company with a clear path forward. As one of the early voices in gamification, Melinda went on to become a globally trusted authority on behavior change and technology ethics. Her work has earned multiple awards, including two Red Dot Awards and 2x VIVA 400 nomination. She has collaborated with global organizations such as Aegon, Elsevier, and Rituals, contributed to Interreg initiatives for transnational cooperation, advised the European Commission on civil security and technology ethics, and serves on the advisory board of the SXSW Pitch competition. She is a frequent speaker on play and games, AI and tech ethics, and behavior change, delivering keynotes and appearing on panels at 50+ conferences, companies, and universities worldwide. Her talks are known for challenging assumptions and asking uncomfortable questions about technology, and she has been repeatedly featured by outlets such as the BBC, Sprout, and PAGE. She’s published research in peer-reviewed journals, and regularly works as a reviewer, writer, and lecturer across industry and academia. She recently co-edited the journal issue Games in a Brave New World with Dr. Marigo Raftopoulos, exploring how playful and game-inspired systems are reshaping work and organizational life in times of rapid social and technological change. Melinda lives in Lisbon with her wife (also a product geek), two cats, and a slightly obsessive love of speed puzzling.