Melani O’Leary is an Associate Director with the Global Health Innovation Team, where she focuses on investments in research and innovation to understand and address the mental health and wellbeing needs of youth.

Melani O’Leary is a public health professional with over 15 years of experience working in the not-for-profit international development and humanitarian sector at the intersection of health, food systems, climate and gender.
Prior to joining GCC, Melani spent two years at Criterion Institute where she led the development of a new field in innovative finance to influence the flows of public and private investment capital to support child and youth health and wellbeing. Melani also spent over 15 years at World Vision Canada, where she provided technical leadership in the design, assessment, and management of health projects in Latin America, Middle East and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Most notably, Melani led the establishment of the Gender-Transformative Framework for Nutrition, an innovative framework that highlights issues related to equity, power dynamics, and systemic barriers at the root of poor health and wellbeing. Her work also involved cross-cultural and participatory approaches to understanding and measuring Adolescent Flourishing, an emerging area of research that looks at barriers and enablers to holistic adolescent wellbeing.

Melani holds Master’s degrees in Global Health and Nutrition from Loma Linda University, and Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Health Sciences.