Melissa Pacheco

Co-Founder Chameleon Collective

Melissa “Mel” Pacheco is Co-Founder and Partner at Chameleon Collective, where she leads executive search and talent strategy for retail and consumer brands navigating growth, transformation and change. With more than 20 years of experience, she specializes in identifying eCommerce, digital and omnichannel leaders who can drive growth at scale.

Over the course of her career, Mel has completed more than 500 placements, working with established retailers, private equity-backed companies and emerging beauty, wellness and consumer brands. Her embedded approach goes beyond matching a resume to a job description. She works alongside leadership teams to understand the business challenge, define what success looks like and identify the kind of leader the organization will need next. Because she works across multiple companies and categories simultaneously, Mel has a unique perspective on the leadership capabilities, organizational structures and talent priorities shaping modern retail.

Before co-founding Chameleon Collective, Mel built her career in corporate recruiting at Digitas and SapientNitro, giving her an inside understanding of the pace and complexity of digital transformation. Known for her candid advice and practical point of view, Mel contributes to industry conversations about attracting high-impact talent and assessing leaders for change. She’s especially focused on how teams need to evolve to keep pace with shifting consumer behavior, technology and business models. She has moderated executive discussions at CommerceNext and Home Delivery World.