Melissa Ablett is the Innovation Cluster Development Leader for the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), where she works to bring CIC to new cities and spark, establish, and grow vibrant innovation ecosystems globally.

CIC was founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and today is the largest cluster of startups in the world, housing over 800 companies in 354,000 square feet of premium office and co-working space across 7 facilities. Companies started at CIC have included Google Android, Greatpoint Energy, and Hubspot, and have attracted a total of over $2 billion in venture capital with $3 billion in publicly disclosed exit value.

Prior to CIC, Melissa worked for the State of Massachusetts’ leading innovation policy agency, the Mass Tech Collaborative’s John Adams Innovation Institute. There, she developed public-private initiatives to stimulate the state’s tech sector and support entrepreneurship.

Following the Innovation Institute, Melissa joined Streetwise Media, a digital media startup focused on local news and events for entrepreneurs and the innovation community. For two years, Melissa led the company’s flagship property in Boston. In 2012, the company was acquired by the American City Business Journals, a part of the Condé Nast and Advance Publications family.

Melissa graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.