Holly Melear, M.A.

Holly Melear, M.A. is CEO and Founder of STEAMSPACE Education Outreach and the Cities in Space: Student Initiative Conference and Competition. She is creating education outreach for all students globally, by creating the opportunity for collaboration with businesses, entrepreneurs, researchers, and the space industry. For that, STEAMSPACE offers students an all-inclusive community to grow and gain an edge in the world of future space entrepreneurship and education.

Holly has also been working as a Consultant at Melear Consulting since 2015. She operates as Education Liaison, Team and Tribal Leadership Training, Communication Facilitator, Business to School Relations, School to School Relations, Program Sponsorship, Community Outreach, Mentorship Development, and Curricular Support.

Briefly, in 2019, she joined the Merchant Club of America as Executive Sales Representative for the greater Austin area, and as the Director of Community Outreach and Marketing at A.R.E. Operations, a Sylvan Learning franchise.

Previously, Holly was the Director at Sylvan Learning Kyle and Bastrop, where she focused on Business to School Relations and Public Relations, managing a team of 20+ faculty.

For almost three years she has been the Director of Education at New Worlds helping students with industry relations, competitions, conferences, curriculum, and events. She is also a speaker at the New Worlds Space Settlement Conference.

Before Holly founded Steamspace, she worked, between 1998 and 2017, as a Visual Art, 3D Printing, and Children’s Engineering Instructor and Educator at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.

With a history of 20 years in the Education Industry and years in the Space Industry, sales, and public relations, Holly has acted as an educational advocate, consultant, coordinator, and event director. She focuses on building meaningful and collaborative relationships between learners, educators, and the community.

She is on the advisory boards for global organizations such as Space Vault and Finsophy, and sits on the Space Economy Task Force in Austin, Texas, as well as STEM for Women Magazine. She promotes girls and women in the STEM/STEAM Industry and has been published in magazines such as Thrive, Room, and the Journal for Space Philosophy.

With a history teaching 3-D Printing, Children’s Engineering, and Visual Art, Holly has learned the value of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education and integration in education. Through her own consulting company, Melear Consulting, Holly has promoted the creation of spaces for students which can support Project Based Learning and Social Emotional Learning integrated with STEAM Education.

“Without creating a dedicated curriculum for our students to focus on Space and the opportunities for off-world colonization, it will be incredibly challenging to create our future leaders and settlers. Indeed, without creating the academic programming along with the skills for leadership, collaboration, and empathy, it will multiply our challenges for success. In offering integrated, real-world problem-solving situations, we will be helping to create our world’s next scientists, inventors, artists, innovators and pioneers of space.”

Holly is also an avid painter deeply passionate about art. She grew up in a family of artists and has pursued the study of art through ancient art and global forms of spirituality through the exploration of broadly varied media.

Holly’s graduate studies focused on ancient Middle Eastern forms of ritual, art, and religion, which led her to the study of iconography, particularly the idea of translating ancient icons and totems into modern form. She earned her Master’s Degree of Liberal Arts in Near Eastern Art History from St. Edwards University in 2007.

She earned her Master’s Degree of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and English Literature from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994.

Her recent art is influenced by her latest studies of totems, allies, and Native American Medicine. She is now focused on a broader scope, incorporating the philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, as well as some Islamic design ideas.

The current political climate of the USA and the globe (see The Great Divide Series) makes her create

“Imagery of connecting the ancient to the new and she gathers knowledge from across time and the boundaries of geography to help humankind find their common ties, and look within to see the ways in which we can all support evolution towards a more connected planet and community.”

Watch Holly Melear — Founder and Director — STEAMSPACE Education Outreach and Cities In Space. Watch her giving the Permission to Dream award during the 2017 Space Cowboy Gala.

Read her article Stepping into space with STEAM published in Room, The Space Journal of Asgardia.

Read local Austin news about Kids Competition for Best Space Settlement Ideas Through STEAMSPACE.

Visit her LinkedIn profile and her homepage. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.