Melissa Ninegar
Melissa Ninegar is a dynamic People Strategy Leader, Culture Architect, and mentor based in San Diego, California. With over a decade of experience leading human resources and culture functions across high-growth consumer brands, Melissa has a proven track record of building workplaces that are both high-performing and values-driven. She currently serves as Sr. Director of People and Culture at Once Upon a Farm, where she guides organizational strategy, fosters employee engagement, and ensures a culture of inclusion, empowerment, and accountability. Her leadership philosophy centers on creating environments where every team member feels a sense of purpose, belonging, and the freedom to thrive.
What originally led Melissa to HR is both unexpected and revealing. Graduating during a challenging economic period, she found few job opportunities available. Inspired by a friend who had entered HR, she explored the field through a business class project on the relationship between companies and the communities they serve. Intrigued by companies like Google coordinating benefits, leadership offsites, and development programs, she took an unpaid internship—thinking it might be a fun “office party planner” role. While she quickly realized the path would require dedication and perseverance, she discovered the true reward of HR: creating meaningful, tailored solutions that support the people who show up every day. Melissa thrives on building programs and experiences that benefit both employees and the organization, combining impact with personal fulfillment.
Melissa’s professional journey includes leadership roles at JuneShine, Modern Times Beer, Otter Products, and Live Nation Entertainment, where she honed her expertise in talent management, HR operations, strategic planning, and culture transformation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Human Resource Certification from UC San Diego. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Melissa is a devoted mother and advocate for working parents, employee well-being, and community engagement. She actively contributes to initiatives supporting parental leave, bereavement inclusivity, and diversity and inclusion, and volunteers with organizations such as Moms Demand Action and the Women’s March. Through her combination of professional insight, personal experience, and genuine empathy, Melissa inspires and elevates the people around her, while modeling resilience, empowerment, and the value of creating workplaces that truly care.
• UC San Diego Extension Human Resources Coursework
• UC San Diego - BA, Eleanor Roosevelt College, Sociology
• Safe Space
• TroopHR
• Naturally San Diego
• Business For Good
• CPG HR Collective
• Culture First, San Diego
• Pink Boots Society
• UCSD Alumni Association
• SBCC Student Business Club
• San Diego Society of Human Resource Management (SD SHRM)
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• The Associated Students All Campus Transfer Association Charter (ACTA)
• The Compensation and Benefits Association of San Diego (CBASD)
• Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
• Women's March
• ACLU
• Be The Match operated by National Marrow Donor Program
• San Diego Blood Bank
• Volunteer
Mike Levin For Congress
• Reach Out and Read
• Junior Achievement Sao Paulo
• OtterCares
• Marley's Mutts
• International House of Blues Foundation
• American Institute for Cancer Research
• Equality Now
What do you attribute your success to?
Community is a big one. When I speak to students or early career professionals, I always share that your network is your net worth, and you never know where people are going to go and land. You absolutely need people outside of your workspace who you can go to for ideas, who can be a sounding board, who can be a safe space for you if you feel like you're going through something that you can't talk about in the workplace. It's interesting because the people who mentor you one year, in a few years you might be mentoring them. Another valuable lesson is that boundaries are really healthy for everybody. Too early in my career, I just poured everything and saw myself at whatever company I was at, like this is it, I'm gonna die here. And then it sets you up for failure when things don't go exactly as planned, which happens all the time. So boundaries mean you are healthier, and you have a life outside of work that enriches you, and then you show up to work better. And then aligning and finding an organization that aligns with your values is something that has become increasingly more important to me as I've matured, because as an HR professional, it just makes your job easier. So much of what you create is informed by the company's values, whether it's the actual words on the wall, or if it's the true culture of the company. Make sure you understand that, because that will inform so much of what you are allowed to do, what you can do, and the impact it has.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For younger women, I would add the compensation piece. For women, we don't talk about compensation. It's kind of taboo for us, whereas men do. We don't fully understand compensation, and that can be true for business numbers, a P&L, and so often that's what holds us back from growth and not being able to stand in our power and speak to our worth. So for young women, I would say leverage your community, leverage all of the resources that now exist that didn't exist before - TikTok, AI, podcasts. There's so much good information out there. And don't hesitate or shy away from the compensation piece, because it is such a big part of your long-term success, what you're able to do, whether you have a family or passions, your ability to pursue them. I think that's a really important piece for women.