Melissa Martin

Program Specialist and Business Advisor

Melissa Martin is our Strategic Edge Facilitator and Business Advisor. Melissa founded Wean Green in 2009 when she was on maternity leave from teaching first grade in Canada. She saw a market need for an eco-friendly storage option to store her homemade baby food and toddler snacks for her 2 daughters. To get started, Melissa grabbed her Mr.Sketch markers and created a business plan centered around infinitely recyclable glass containers that has survived a decade's worth of twists and turns. Now, instead of cooking up her business strategy in her kitchen she is executing an international brand that manufactures in South Korea and is distributed on most continents.

Never one to not maximize her "spare" time, Melissa has been involved in many organizations including Children's Wish Foundation, Alberta Women Entrepreneurs, 10,000 Kids Charity, SDSU, SAIT, Alberta Children's Hospital and she has been mentoring companies at District Ventures which is an accelerator program started by Arlene Dickinson one of Canada’s foremost women entrepreneurs. She has also been an active board member of Believe in the Gold charity and chaired their annual gala.

In 2017 Melissa and her daughters moved from Canada to Newport Beach, California where she not only learned how to surf & Stand Up Paddleboard but also started teaching it to the locals. Her love for the environment and the outdoors has driven much of her company's passion for creating eco-friendly products. She now splits her time between Alberta and California. Today through her company, Melissa's enthusiasm is focused on eliminating single use plastic that is often found in lunches at school and work. She works with organizations around the world to help advocate for the curtailment of plastic waste and encourage consumers to purchase sustainable products.