Dr Melissa Permezel is an Advisor in the Futures Hub having come across on secondment from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in the Commonwealth Government where she’s been undertaking policy development work. Melissa has a varied policy and urban development background. She has lived in Kenya for 15 years and worked for the UN’s UN-Habitat there (the arm of the UN working on sustainable urban development), where she led the organisation’s first Innovation unit and was involved in a diverse range of policy work from slum upgrading to global land partnerships. She has also worked in Australia in both the private and public sectors (local government) and is particularly interested in futures undercurrents, social inclusion and resilience and systems approaches to policy challenges. Melissa has a PhD from the University of Melbourne in Urban Planning, completed the Inner MBA course (a collaboration between New York University, Sounds True and Linked In) and has a first-class Bachelor of Arts degree (University of Melbourne) specialising in human geography. She has 4 children and a very lively Dachshund she cares for.