Melissa Ramirez serves as the Program Manager for the Group Effort Initiative. Melissa realized she wanted to pursue a career within the entertainment industry as a sixteen-year-old growing up in East Hollywood.

In 2018, Melissa joined Mayor Garcetti’s Evolve Entertainment Fund (Evolve), a workforce development program that provided career pathways into entertainment careers for low-income and underrepresented Angelenos. Through Evolve, Melissa secured internships at Outfest, Live Nation Entertainment, and NBCUniversal in their Corporate Relations, Diversity & Belonging, and Campus Recruitment & Initiatives departments.

In college, she discovered her passion for helping aspiring professionals with securing entertainment career opportunities. In her final college semester, Melissa accepted an offer to join NBCUniversal’s Campus Recruitment team as an Assistant. Melissa recruited interns in the L.A. region for NBCEntertainment and Owned Stations & Affiliates divisions.

In 2020, Melissa worked for Mayor Garcetti’s Office of Economic Development as the Evolve Entertainment Fund Coordinator supporting fellow Evolve peers with securing internships and entry-level positions. Now, Melissa is excited to continue paying it forward and support upcoming storytellers, executives, and professionals at Group Effort Initiative.

Melissa graduated in 2019 from California State University, Northridge with a B.S. in Business Management and a B.A. in Economics. Melissa is also a cat lover and volunteers at the SNPLA Kitten Nursery in her spare time. Melissa is a proud owner of two short-hair tabby cats.