In this episode of New World in the Making, I sit down with Melina, a first-generation Greek-American who grew up in San Francisco, studied human rights and international affairs, worked at the UN, and has spent the last five years calling Athens home.

Melina works at the intersection of philanthropy, systems change, and regenerative thinking. She's building Kali Polis Project, an urban climate lab in Greece connecting young people with local government. She's curating the Ministry of Regeneration track at the World Beautiful Business Forum in Athens this May. And she's founding Zymosi, which means fermentation in Greek, a venture built around slow, trust-building dinners that bring together changemakers who don't yet know each other.

We talk about:

What climate citizenship actually means and why you don't need to be a climate scientist to practice it
The iceberg model, leverage points, and what systems change tools actually look like in practice
Scarcity versus abundance: and how shifting that mental model changes everything, from economics to relationships
The two-loop model and what it means to grieve an old system while building a new one
Doughnut Economics, regenerative finance, and what local governments are quietly already doing
What resilient systems actually require and why redundancy matters more than specialization
How geopolitical crises are, paradoxically, accelerating the shift toward localization and regeneration
The feminine in systems design and what matriarchal design principles have to offer
How to stay hopeful without being naive and what Melina does personally to keep going
And what a moment of glimmer looks like on a spring morning in Athens

→ Listen & subscribe: https://newworldinthemaking.com
→ Read more on Substack: https://substack.com/@newworldinthemaking?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page
→ Support & become an Active Maker: https://buy.stripe.com/14A28qgJS86obz572U9oc00

About the World Beautiful Business Forum

Taking place in Athens, May 7–10, 2025. Open to everyone.

→ Look up the World Beautiful Business Forum for tickets and info: https://houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/world-beautiful-business-forum

About Zymosi

A gathering project by Melina based in Athens: curated dinners for climate changemakers who don't know each other yet. Built on trust, slow conversation, and the belief that fermentation takes time.

→ Look up Zymosi on Melina’s Substack: https://substack.com/@melinadunham

→ Look up Zymosi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zy.mosi/

→ Reach out to Melina directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melina-dunham/

About System Change Models:

→ Find your meaningful and bespoke way to help address the climate crisis, draw your own Climate Action Venn Diagram: https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/climatevenn

→ More about the Iceberg Model: https://ecochallenge.org/iceberg-model/

→ More about Leverage Points: https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/

⚠️ Disclaimer
All content shared in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing discussed should be considered financial, investment, or legal advice. The views expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily reflect my personal views or positions. Listeners are encouraged to do their own research and form their own conclusions.

Thank you for listening and for being part of the new world in the making.