Melissa Malburg, NCIDQ, LEED AP
Director of Strategy and Transformation
Progressive Companies
For more than 20 years, Melissa has championed a culture of curiosity, belonging, and values-driven design both within Progressive Companies and in partnership with clients. An interior designer by training and a strategist by practice, she believes deeply in the power of space, while recognizing that meaningful outcomes begin with understanding people, priorities, and purpose.
Melissa’s work focuses on aligning design decisions with what matters most to clients - helping teams translate values into clear priorities that can withstand complexity, budget pressures, and competing demands. By grounding projects in shared definitions of success, she translates values into decision frameworks that teams can return to when trade-offs inevitably arise.
With a strong commitment to inclusivity and human-centered design, Melissa advocates for equitable environments that support diverse needs while advancing regenerative outcomes for positive impact. She views stewardship as a core responsibility of leadership, balancing immediate project realities with long-term foresight to ensure today’s decisions contribute to healthier communities and ecosystems tomorrow.
As a leader and facilitator, Melissa has led firmwide initiatives focused on trust, alignment, and inclusive collaboration. She is a trusted mentor and connector across disciplines, known for fostering design thinking, purposeful iteration, and measurable impact.
“Strategy is grounded in people and supported by space,” Melissa says. “When we align values early, we give sustainability and equity the resilience they need to endure.”
Melissa holds an Innovation Strategy Certificate from Cornell University and is a certified Change Management Practitioner (CMP) through Prosci. She is NCIDQ-certified and an active member of the International Interior Design Association.
Melissa’s work focuses on aligning design decisions with what matters most to clients - helping teams translate values into clear priorities that can withstand complexity, budget pressures, and competing demands. By grounding projects in shared definitions of success, she translates values into decision frameworks that teams can return to when trade-offs inevitably arise.
With a strong commitment to inclusivity and human-centered design, Melissa advocates for equitable environments that support diverse needs while advancing regenerative outcomes for positive impact. She views stewardship as a core responsibility of leadership, balancing immediate project realities with long-term foresight to ensure today’s decisions contribute to healthier communities and ecosystems tomorrow.
As a leader and facilitator, Melissa has led firmwide initiatives focused on trust, alignment, and inclusive collaboration. She is a trusted mentor and connector across disciplines, known for fostering design thinking, purposeful iteration, and measurable impact.
“Strategy is grounded in people and supported by space,” Melissa says. “When we align values early, we give sustainability and equity the resilience they need to endure.”
Melissa holds an Innovation Strategy Certificate from Cornell University and is a certified Change Management Practitioner (CMP) through Prosci. She is NCIDQ-certified and an active member of the International Interior Design Association.