Women in AI
Melanie Perkins
Co-founder & CEO, Canva
Melanie Perkins is the co-founder and CEO of Canva, the Australian global online design platform valued at over $40 billion. She co-founded the company in 2013 at age 19 with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, growing it into one of the world's most widely used creative tools with over 190 million monthly active users across 190 countries.
Perkins started her entrepreneurial journey while studying at the University of Western Australia, initially launching Fusion Books, a platform for designing school yearbooks. This experience led to the vision for Canva — democratizing design by making professional-quality tools accessible to everyone.
Canva has integrated AI-powered features including Magic Studio (AI-powered design generation), Magic Write (AI text generation), Background Remover, and Magic Eraser. The platform has displaced traditional design software for millions of non-designers.
Perkins and Obrecht have pledged to give away the majority of their wealth and have committed to donating 30% of Canva's equity to the Canva Foundation, focused on eliminating poverty.
