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Mila Zelkha
Special Projects
Professional Background
Mila Zelkha is a multi-talented professional dedicated to solving today’s challenges while simultaneously shaping a better tomorrow. With a solid training in architecture, Mila's career spans a broad spectrum of fields, including housing, transportation, social services, and entrepreneurship. Her extraordinary ability to cultivate collaborative relationships has made her a respected leader across various sectors, including the private, public, nonprofit, and voluntary civic arenas. Throughout her career, Mila has demonstrated proficiency in risk mitigation, contract management, financial modeling, and community relations.
Versatile Skills and Experience
Mila's extensive expertise enables her to navigate the complexities of government policy, campaign deployment, fiscal responsibility, and intellectual property matters seamlessly. Her impressive range of experience includes significant contributions to diverse industries such as technology, real estate, hospitality, entertainment media, and construction. She has developed an exceptional skill set that encompasses business development, socially responsible investing, and transformative marketplace strategies.
One of Mila's hallmark achievements is her ability to launch innovative initiatives that seek to improve community welfare. She has successfully flipped fixer-uppers, strengthened brand identities, and fostered relationships that drive sustainable business practices in her various roles. Mila is deeply passionate about working with individuals who are committed to powerful missions and compelling ideas, emphasizing her goal of building stability and making a lasting impact in local communities.
Education and Achievements
Mila Zelkha's educational background is as robust and diverse as her career experience. She studied architecture at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, where she earned both a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. This educational foundation equipped Mila with the design principles and aesthetic sensibilities that have informed her approach to her work. Additionally, Mila has enriched her knowledge by attending Carleton College, further broadening her academic perspective.
Notable Organizations and Roles
Mila has held numerous influential positions, showcasing her leadership capabilities and commitment to fostering positive change. As the former Chief Executive Officer of Manzanita Works, she guided the organization through various projects aimed at enhancing community services. Her role as District Director at the Office of Assemblymember Marc Berman at the California State Assembly further solidified her influence within the public sector, where she contributed to shaping policy and advocating for constituents.
In the tech industry, Mila served as a Community Ambassador at Palantir Technologies, where she worked on projects that intersected technology and community-building. Her position as Director of Real Estate & Facilities at InnVision Shelter Network exemplifies her commitment to empowering those in need and facilitating access to essential services through effective management and strategic planning.
Mila's career also features her role at Mint Condition Homes, LLC, where she harnessed her architectural expertise as Principal. At Wrecking Belle, Inc., her work as a contractor exemplified her hands-on approach to transforming spaces. Additionally, her tenure as a Realtor® at The Stone Company showcased her dedication to helping individuals and families navigate the important process of homeownership.
Beyond her architecture and real estate endeavors, Mila has a strong background in project management and organizational development. As a former Program Director at The Green Roundtable, she advocated for eco-friendly practices and innovations in sustainable design and building practices. These experiences have contributed to her holistic understanding of how to integrate design and strategy for a comprehensive approach to community development.
Achievements and Impact
Throughout her career, Mila Zelkha has achieved remarkable success in shaping communities, enhancing public services, and driving forward-thinking initiatives. Her visionary approach has led to the successful implementation of numerous projects that not only improve local environments but also empower residents. Mila's ability to merge strategic thinking with compassionate action has set her apart as a leader in her fields.
Mila’s work consistently reflects her belief in the power of collaboration and community engagement. Her commitment to socially responsible investing and business practices has positioned her as an advocate for change, steering conversations towards sustainable solutions that benefit both communities and industries alike. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for innovation, Mila remains a driving force in her quest to help others realize their potential and achieve their goa
Highlights
Who would've known there could be such grounding on the topics of big open spaces when you are able to be in dialogue with brilliant and compassionate leaders from across disciplines and the globe! It was an honor to attend Aspen Institute Socrates Program where I did a deep dive on the Competition in the Commons: Oceans and Outer Space moderated by Dr. Esther Brimmer with truly an amazing group of human beings. We rolled up our sleeves on the potential of the High Seas Treaty, lessons from Antarctica, and explored human activity in lower earth orbit and beyond while weighing the dynamics of independent and interdependence, interests and ingenuity, who has a seat at the table and freedom. Wow. Much appreciation to everyone I was in dialogue with, to Cordell Carter, Esq. 🌎 for growing such an amazing community and congratulations to Danny Harris on your new chapter and introducing me to it.
Sharing an update for projects ahead in 2024 with my network: I am pleased to be reinvesting my energy, time and talent into the nonprofit sector with exciting projects emerging in 2024!
For those who have kept up with me, Manzanita Works remains a compelling project for me that I have been working on with the leadership of Jason Kim, and board members Kaloma Smith, María Marroquín, Ian Bain, with the support of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation to launch innovative programs that are centered around supporting the essential workforce and their families. Returning to my previous external facing role of CEO, I am honored to continue and amplify our collaboration with Caltrain, the San Mateo County Office of Sustainability and the City of Redwood City with new and improved partnerships and programs launching. Please follow the Manzanita Works LinkedIn page for updates.
In other big news, I have joined the team of Edge Collaborative. Inspired by Ann Rogan's approach to the future of work when she was in the Mayor’s Office of former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, it has been amazing to see Edge consistently wow with its commitment to building a more resilient and inclusive economy in Stockton and the wider region with community needs at the center. Edge Collaborative is a civic incubator - and they are defining the term as they demonstrate how economic development can be amplified when community-based structures can be empowered to lead on workforce initiatives, climate resilience, and community wealth building.
I’m thrilled to help support them as their Advisor, Special Projects of one of the most dynamic nonprofit models I’ve come across. To my LinkedIn network, please follow Edge Collaborative’s LinkedIn page. Thank you for the warm welcome Ann Rogan, Jairius M., Taylor Williams, Tom Pyun, and as well as Moses Zapien at the San Joaquin Community Foundation! I look forward to working with you and the rest of the growing team!
Thank you to everyone for all the support and warm wishes for my career news. It remains a path I find purpose in, learning and growth. Please stay in touch or reconnect if we are connected from another era and I wish you all safety, health, and peace in this precious world we live in together.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.