Services

Services

briefings

briefings

keynotes

keynotes

advisories

white papers

ideation

engagement

strategy

show + tell

advisories white papers ideation engagement strategy show + tell

Known for crafting highly creative, yet scientifically, technically, and economically robust solutions to complex and critical issues of environment and society, Melissa offers a range of commercial services that draw on her extensive hands-on experience of working at the coalface of innovation, enterprise, and sustainability from start-up to global corporation across multiple sectors worldwide.

Melissa combines deep scientific and technical expertise as a chartered post-PhD scientist with multiple distinguished STEM, innovation, and enterprise fellowships and prestigious honors, together with strategic insight gained as a serial founder, cofounder, and executive director of business development, marketing, media, client relations, and technology at several award-winning, first-to-market ventures and initiatives.

In addition, she brings a sophisticated understanding of communications and creativity, having trained and worked across diverse design disciplines and led public relations, sponsorship, event direction, artist liaison, and editorial for a range of high-profile for-profit and not-for-profit organisations.

 A folio professional, Melissa works to both short and long-term client assignments, both in and out of house. Careful to avoid conflicts of interest, she is discerning in the briefs she accepts and always seeks to work with clients that show a sincere desire to lead with integrity and inspiration, and to make tangible progress in tackling serious problems both within and beyond their organisations.

Ways in which Melissa works with her clients include:

  • Advising executives on catalysing and scaling sustainable innovation and enterprise.

  • Strategic briefings on trouble shooting issues in sustainability start-ups.

  • Designing and leading sustainable innovation and enterprise research and education programmes.

  • Authoring white papers on how sustainable innovation can mitigate complex problems of environment and society.

  • Delivering insights on issues of sustainability, innovation, and enterprise through keynotes, fire-side chats, and interviews.

  • Media figurehead for sustainable innovation-led campaigns across print, digital, radio, television, and film.

  • Consulting on how emerging and possible near-future scientific, technological, and design breakthroughs may shape the future.

  • Conceptualising ground-breaking design solutions to complex problems at the interface of human and non-human systems.

specialist

specialist

expertise

expertise

Her disciplinary expertise extends across:

  • Issues of environment including climate change, biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, land-use change, and resource shortages.

  • Sustainable innovation in materials, design, engineering, manufacturing, construction, utilities, retail, and distribution.

  • Strategising solutions at multiple scales for diverse business-to-business, to-consumer, and hybrid markets worldwide.

  • Launching and scaling first-to-market concepts, including authoring business plans, budgeting, and talent acquisition.

  • Multi-stakeholder engagement across commerce, industry, government, education, press, and media.

Topics on which her insights are commonly sought:

  • Ecological systems thinking in architecture, urban design, construction, utilities, manufacturing, and transport.

  • Bio-informed, bio-inspired, and bio-enabled design within the built environment, including biodesign, biomimetics, and biofabrication.

  • Nature-inspired design strategies for building resilience to wildfires, heatwaves, drought, flooding, and other natural hazards.

  • Design for worst-case futures scenarios including extreme climate change, mass extinction, and global societal collapse.

  • Biofutures and geofutures in design, engineering, construction, technology, enterprise, and policymaking.

  • Circular design, regenerative design, systems thinking, and complexity in theory and practice.

  • Post-Industrial innovation and enterprise in design, manufacturing, distribution, and retail.

  • Foresight and futures at the edge of complex human and non-human systems.

steps

steps

short & sweet

short & sweet

initial

initial

  • Synopsis

    Duration: 60 minutes inc. Q&A

    Succinct advisory for clients looking for concise feedback on specific issues of sustainable innovation, whether relating to the research, development, or commercialisation of a given product, service, or initiative. Delivered online or in-person, and available as a one-off, or as part of a series of scheduled sessions.

    Online £2,500 / $3,000 | In-person POA

    Make It

  • Show + Tell

    Duration: 60 minutes inc. Q&A

    This in-house talk is a deep dive into the future of sustainable innovation told through Melissa’s personal lens as the originator of several internationally acclaimed seminal concepts. Here, she shares the untold stories behind the breakthroughs: the real-world R&D battles and the invisible wins that shaped global thinking in design, resilience, and biofuturism.

    Online £2,500 / $3,000 | In-person POA

    Make It

bespoke

bespoke

global

global

deep dive

deep dive

  • Board-level advisories on issues of foresight, sustainable innovation, concept origination, research, development, and due diligence, market creation and scaling, and environmental, social, and governance leadership. Convening global thought-leaders and other experts, and creating conversations with critical partners in industry, commerce, research and academia, government, and the media, through activities including but not limited to roundtables and other meetings.

  • Designing experiments and surveys; literary and other reviews; hosting workshops; speculative design, design fictions, and post-normal science; authoring reports, papers, articles, and interviews; scripting, advisories, and commentaries for film, radio, and other media; consultancy and project mentoring; and science communications and public engagement.

  • Identifying possible future opportunities and risks, including new products, markets, and models; scenario planning; horizon scanning, trend identification, analysis, and extrapolation; designing and hosting workshops and other participatory research; strategic advisories; project curating, critiquing, and mentoring; delivering keynote talks, provocations, and other in-person and virtual presentations and commentaries; and authoring reports, articles, opinion pieces, books, fictions, and scripts.

  • Speculative design and design fiction; trends forecasting, reporting, and commentary; design conceptualisation and prototyping; directing and mentoring design projects, campaigns, awards, and publications; reviewing and critiquing design ideas; educating designers, design teams, and design-led projects and companies.

  • Authoring articles, reports, papers, essays, chapters, opinion pieces, interview series, blogs, short films, radio shows, podcasts, and live events, including for mixed and hybrid formats in styles technical, creative, and experimental. Editing, critiquing, and supervising academic, creative, and commercial works, including thesis, books, and film scripts.

  • Delivering keynote speeches, provocations, fire-side chats, head-to-head interviews, and other talks; chairing, moderating, and facilitating panel sessions; contributing as a panellist and commentator in debates and discussions in both the private and public domain at events including conferences, seminars, expos, annual meetings, dinners, awards, product launches, and festivals.

Explore how Melissa can help your organisation stay ahead and shape a more inspiring, sustainable, and resilient future. Discounted rates are offered to startups, SMEs, and not for profits.

Melissa offers her bespoke services to clients across regions including Europe, Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Tailored to the specific needs of each brief and client, she works both in-house and remotely, and directly or through third parties. Offering a menu of options that can be added over time, all works are contracted, with deposits payable and invoice settlement due within 28-days. Corporate in-person keynotes start at £5,000 / $6,000 plus expenses.

With a track record of delivering high-impact insights and strategies to global leaders and organisations, she is trusted for her depth of expertise and forward-thinking vision. Her availability is limited due to demand, so early enquiries are encouraged. Outline a few details, including brief, schedule, and budget, and Melissa or one of her team will be in touch soon.

20% discount offered on repeat business and on keynotes and consultancies confirmed 3+ months ahead of delivery. Deposits taken and balance due within 28 days of invoice.

Melissa does not undertake pro bono works for parties other than her selected charities and campaigns.

  • Collage of event posters featuring Festival of Architecture 2016, Vision London 2016, "Greening the City" event, and a 5x15 event with speakers. Includes images of a cityscape, speaker profiles, and event details.
  • Webpage featuring an article and a Volvo advertisement. Left side shows a woman in a cream blouse, associated with the article titled 'The future: Technology.' Right side displays an advertisement for the Volvo V40 with the slogan 'It's You' and buttons for a test drive and brochure. Header includes silhouettes and Volvo logo.
  • BBC Radio 4 webpage featuring "The Five Faces of Leonardo" episode titled "Leonardo's City" with an illustration of Leonardo da Vinci.
  • Webpage for downloading a free report titled "Tech to the Future" by CW Jobs. Includes a form to enter first name, last name, phone number, company, recruiter type, and email address. Features a video thumbnail with a "play" button, and text discussing the significance of smartphones and predictions on future technology trends.
  • Promotional graphic for ECETOC event featuring test tubes with plants and text about a chat with Melissa Sterry on building blocks of the future, held in March 2019 in Brussels.
  • A presenter stands in front of a screen displaying a network diagram with interconnected words: 'wildfires,' 'drought,' 'flooding,' 'disease,' and 'debris flows.' The presenter is at a podium gesturing while speaking.
  • A person presenting at a podium with a screen displaying the text 'Building with, not against nature's cycles' along with related icons.
  • Panel discussion with two people seated; one person gesturing while speaking. Overlay text: "Business Insider" logo and "Melissa Sterry Futurist."
  • Event advertisement for a keynote speaker, featuring a black and white portrait of a woman on a blue-tinted background showing Ottawa landmarks. Text reads "Keynote Speaker: Melissa Sterry, July 3-6, 2019, Ottawa, Ontario."
  • Presentation slide at Cityx conference, titled "Day 1: The Future of Housing," featuring a talk by Melissa Sterry titled "Human Dot to Non-Human Dot: Connecting Human Places to Abiotic and Biotic Systemic Spaces."
  • Promotional poster for the "Future of Connected Places Business Expo" on November 13-14, 2019, in Clerkenwell, London. Features keynote speakers Sophie White, Alan Somerville, and Melissa Sterry. Includes their photos and titles, such as General Manager and Executive Director.
  • A person walking on stage at a conference or event with a large "FAB" sign and a presentation slide titled "Panarchistic Architecture" in the background.