Melanie Perkins Biography

Melanie Perkins serves as CEO and co-founder of Canva which operates as a worldwide graphic design platform that revolutionized visual content creation for both personal and business users. Under her direction Canva expanded to serve more than 130 million monthly users in 190 countries who use the platform to create social media content and presentations.  

The young Melanie Perkins showed entrepreneurial tendencies when she was born in 1987 in Perth Western Australia. She began her first business at age 14 by making and selling handmade scarves. She co-founded Fusion Books in 2007 during her university years at the University of Western Australia where she studied communications and psychology and commerce. The venture evolved into Australia's largest yearbook company before Canva emerged from its foundation.  

Perkins launched Canva in 2013 together with co-founder Cliff Obrecht and technical advisor Cameron Adams. The investors expressed doubt at first but the team continued their work which led to rapid user adoption. As of 2023 Forbes and Fortune included Perkins among their lists of most powerful women while she maintained ownership of 18% of Canva.  

Perkins dedicates her time to philanthropy activities in addition to her business accomplishments. The couple joined the Giving Pledge in 2021 to give away most of their wealth to charitable organizations. Through their Canva Foundation they donated $31.6 million in 2023 to GiveDirectly and educational programs in southern Africa and India.  

Perkins proved her dedication to design democratization through her transformation from university student to billion-dollar company leader.

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