Chamber Membership

MELINDA MORELLA-OLSON: “GREATER POSSIBILITIES.”

Greater Green Bay Chamber membership fuels growth, talent and impact.

Melinda Morella-Olson discovered the Greater Green Bay Chamber during a career transition. After six years in education, she stepped into a new role leading community engagement and fund development for Live54218, now known as Wello.  
 
“The Chamber was incubating Live54218, which is a neat model and a testament to the true partner that the Chamber is in the community,” Morella-Olson recalls. “It afforded me opportunities to find my footing and understand industries and sectors that were unfamiliar to me.” 
 
She quickly got involved with the Chamber Young Professionals (CYP) program and started building relationships. 
 
“Some of my best friends in the world are people I met during that time in my life when CYP was helping me build my career,” said Morella-Olson. “The professional development opportunities with CYP were so incredible.” 
 
The CYP program challenged Morella-Olson to step into her own leadership and lead professional development for other young professionals. Those experiences stretched her and helped her to grow in ways that she would not have considered otherwise. 
 
“Being involved in Chamber programs and attending Chamber events really allows you to step into that space and maybe meet someone you didn’t know and make a connection you didn’t know would be so impactful on your life,” said Morella-Olson. “My life is greater because of the Greater Green Bay Chamber. The relationships, the learning, the networking, the opportunity, the development is top notch.” 
 
Today, Morella-Olson serves as Senior Director of Operational Transformation at Breakthrough, an active Greater Green Bay Chamber member. Many of her colleagues participate in Chamber programs such as CYP, the Chamber Ambassadors and Leadership Green Bay. The perspective and energy they bring back to the workplace from those experiences, she says, are “truly incredible.”

“They broaden their understanding of our community and community issues,” said Morella-Olson. “They’re more engaged team members. They’re more engaged community members, and it’s just beneficial for our organization.” 
 
She previously spent time as the co-chair of the Chamber’s Talent Taskforce out of a personal interest in sharing what makes Greater Green Bay special. 
 
“I wasn’t responsible for recruiting talent at my organization, but my passion really lies in bringing people to this community,” said Morella-Olson. “I love this community. I think we have a lot to offer. We were looking at innovative strategies and ways to bring people to Greater Green Bay that maybe hadn’t been talked about or hadn’t talked about in that way.” 
 
So what would Morella-Olson say to organizations considering Chamber membership? 
 
“You’re going to get out of it what you put into it. If you’re not sure if you should attend an event or if you’re uncomfortable stepping into that space by yourself, grab a colleague, grab a coworker, grab a friend and just go see what it’s all about,” she said. “I can attest to the fact that you can get so much out of an experience with the Chamber, so just do it.”