The partners at Verelle Advisers have a deep understanding of the social sector and can provide concrete solutions and actionable advice to organizations striving for impact, scale and sustainability.
Leila Melody and Elise Moylan met while attending business school at the prestigious Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. They shared a passion for empowering the social sector through the application of business tools and frameworks. After years working in both not-for-profit and for-profit companies, they decided to start their own practice to leverage their broad business skills to help socially conscious organizations build capacity and become more efficient, effective and impactful.
Our Team
Partner
Leila Melody
Leila has over 18 years of diverse business experience including executive roles in both for-profit and not-for-profit companies. Leila began her career by joining a financial services startup and as part of its senior leadership team helped to foster its growth to become a national player in the industry, securing the 28th spot on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in 2006. From there, Leila worked as an independent consultant, advising startups on business plans, growth strategies, and market analyses. She then held executive roles at not-for-profit organizations as CFO, CAO and COO, leading financial planning, analysis, and reporting; managing Information Technology, Human Resources and administrative processes; overseeing educational visitor programs and merchandising; managing extensive and complex facilities, and developing sustainable earned income opportunities.
Leila earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics with a minor in psychology, cum laude, from Northwestern University, and she holds an MBA with distinction from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management with concentrations in management and strategy, social enterprise, international business, and management and organizations.
Leila has volunteered her time to several not-for-profit organizations with a wide range of missions from local humane societies to international education initiatives, working on strategic planning, fundraising events, community outreach, and volunteer management.
Partner
Elise Moylan
Elise has 15 years of experience in not-for-profit management and leadership. Elise has worked for organizations ranging from small, community-based organizations focusing on child and family welfare to large-scale international institutions providing global health, education, and disaster relief services. Having started her career in grants management, Elise has subsequently honed her experience via both managerial and consulting capacities, focusing on project management, resource development, financial analysis, and business strategy.
Elise is a graduate of Duke University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in English, and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where she received a Master in Business Administration with majors in international business, social enterprise, marketing, and management and strategy.
Elise is also a dedicated volunteer, providing strategic guidance and hands-on operational assistance to an array of local and international organizations focusing on the arts, education, and youth development.