[1] Marcelo was born and raised in the Philippines, growing up in an entrepreneurial household that was involved in a number of businesses from coconut mills to mango and banana plantations to transportation and coal production.

Holyoke that Marcelo had her first child, Ryan;[4] her second son, Adam, was born right after graduating from Harvard Business School.

[7] Prior to founding Care.com, she was a consultant at Monitor Company,[8] Pyramid Research and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett,[9] a teaching fellow at Harvard Business School,[8] Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Upromise, an online service helping families save money for college, Vice President and General Manager of TheLadders.com, an online service helping people find jobs and entrepreneur-in-resident in the Boston office of Matrix Partners.

[12] The Boston Globe reported on several allegations that Marcelo had met with other companies in order to use the information for starting Care.com.

[21] From its founding in 2006 through August 2012, Care.com had raised more than $111 million in venture capital from investors, including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

[24][25] Marcelo founded Proof of Learn in January 2022, and raised $15 million in a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates.

[32] In 2011, Marcelo was awarded a Marshall Memorial Fellowship and named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

[34]) In 2014, Marcelo received the prestigious Harvard Business School alumni award, "for her achievements as founder, chairwoman and CEO of Care.com".