Gabriella Mele, VP Finance and Administration
Gabriella Mele
Vice President Finance and Administration
GroundWork, Inc.
a San Francisco-based software company
Gabliella grew up in Northern Italy, in the Milan metropolitan area, near Lake Como. She has a Law Degree from the Universita’ Cattolica, Milan, Italy. In addition Gabriella completed two separate Certificate Programs at UC Berkeley, one in Marketing and one in Accounting.
Before moving to the US Gabriella worked at a law firm in Como and taught Law and Economics.
In California “I started working in the challenging world of Silicon Valley start ups and found that the environment suited me very well. “It allows a great degree of creativity in contributing to shape a company in its early stages.”
“As head of finance and administration, I have a great variety of responsibilities, ranging from financial accounting and reporting, budgeting, planning/forecasting, facilities management, human resources, and sales operations. I enjoy a very dynamic relationship with the colleagues from each department of the company.”
Gabriella says that her legal education provided an invaluable background for problem analysis and solving problems in many different areas. The studies at UC Berkeley added accounting skills and useful insights for strategic thinking and planning plus knowledge of the American corporate world.
“The most enjoyable aspect of my career is being part of a small organization and having responsibilities in many different areas, where new challenges arise and I can contribute to the company’s success. Other pluses are the professional learning experiences, and seeing my efforts rewarded in terms of recognition and professional growth. The most challenging part of this job is the need to continuously gain new expertise.”
The key to success in the field are keeping up-to-date on new developments and specific skills. Team work and collaboration with your manager, peers and direct reports is essential to create a work environment that is pleasant and at the same time provides everyone with opportunities to achieve their potential and creates more success for both the individual and the organization.
Many changes and new requirements are constantly coming up. Their is a need for international integration, harmonization and reporting requirements. The learning experience never ends in this field.
In her spare time Gabriellla watches scientific documentaries, and enjoys reading all sorts of novels in foreign languages, Spanish being her favorite.