William F. Mellin

Bill Mellin lives in San Francisco with his wife, Stephanie, where they raised and launched their three adult children. He was born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, attended the University of Michigan, and graduated with a BA in business administration. He worked in the mergers and acquisitions department of Morgan Stanley in New York City before moving to San Francisco to join Tom Steyer at HFS Partners, the predecessor to Farallon Capital Management. He became the youngest Managing Member of FCM and specialized in global distressed credit investing. He retired from professional investing in order to devote his efforts to family, philanthropy, and nonprofit board leadership.

Bill has over two decades of board governance and leadership experience. Notably, in addition to joining the Board of Trustees of the Exploratorium in 2013 and being elected Board Chair in 2022, Bill was a founding Board member, major funder and fundraiser for the Bay School of San Francisco, endowed the Philanthropy Initiative and served as trustee and Board President of Lick-Wilmerding High School, and served as Chair of the Board of Aim High, where he remains a trustee. He has served on practically every type of board committee and, given his professional expertise, has often chaired finance, investment, and development committees. He has a particular interest in and extensive experience with leading organizations through transformational events, such as the search and transition to new leadership and the strategic planning process.

Bill and Stephanie (former Board Chair of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco, currently a member of the Smithsonian National Board) are active in, and philanthropic supporters of, many Bay Area nonprofit organizations. They are primarily focused on education and on improving life outcomes for youth with great potential but limited opportunities.