Melanie Perkins, born in 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, is a visionary Australian technology entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Canva, a global design platform. Perkins owns 18% of Canva, which has grown into one of the most successful tech start-ups, valued at over A$1 billion. Perkins was born to an Australian-born teacher and a Malaysian engineer of Filipino and Sri Lankan descent. By the time Perkins was fourteen, she had started her first business, selling handmade scarves at local markets, an experience that ignited her entrepreneurial spirit. After high school, Perkins attended the University of Western Australia, majoring in communications, psychology, and commerce. While there, she worked as a private tutor for students learning graphic design and noticed the significant challenges they faced with complex software like Adobe Photoshop. This realization sparked the idea of creating a simpler, more accessible design platform, leading her to drop out of university at age 19 to pursue her first business venture, Fusion Books, with her partner, Cliff Obrecht. Fusion Books, founded in 2007, allowed students to create their own school yearbooks using an intuitive drag-and-drop tool. Despite starting in the living room of Perkins' mother’s house, the business quickly expanded, becoming the largest yearbook company in Australia and reaching markets in France and New Zealand. In 2011, after facing numerous rejections from local investors, Perkins and Obrecht pitched their idea for Canva to prominent investor Bill Tai during a start-up competition in Perth. Although they initially failed to secure funding, their persistence paid off when they connected with Cameron Adams, an ex-Google engineer, who later joined Canva as the third co-founder and chief product officer. Under Perkins’ leadership, Canva has become one of the few profitable "unicorn" start-ups, with Forbes estimating her net worth at $3.6 billion as of November 2023. Throughout her career, Perkins has been an advocate for diversity in the tech industry, implementing policies at Canva to eliminate bias in hiring and achieving 41% female representation within the company, far surpassing the industry average. Perkins is also deeply committed to philanthropy. In January 2021, she married Cliff Obrecht on Rottnest Island, and later that year, they both joined the Giving Pledge, committing to donate at least half of their fortune to charitable causes. The couple, who have been critical of materialism, emphasize the importance of giving back and have expressed a desire to use their wealth to make a positive impact on the world. In recognition of her achievements, Perkins has been named one of the world's "Top Under 30 of the Decade" by Forbes and consistently ranks among Australia’s richest individuals. As of May 2021, she was recognized as one of Australia’s wealthiest women and in 2023, she ranked 89th on Forbes' list of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" and 92nd on Fortune’s list of Most Powerful Women. As of May 2023, her and Obrecht's joint net worth was assessed at A$13.18 billion, making them among the top ten wealthiest Australians.

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