Melissa is Abbott’s Vice President, Global Marketing and External Affairs, with responsibility for corporate marketing, communications, and citizenship and sustainability. Melissa also serves as President of the Abbott Fund, Abbott’s philanthropic foundation.

Melissa was appointed to her current role in September 2018. She joined Abbott in 1996 after several years with leading public relations agencies, and rose through a series of positions in its pharmaceuticals business and corporate office, most recently heading the company’s global communications group.

Having been with the company through more than two decades of continual strategic transformation, she’s gained deep understanding of the importance of corporate identity.

“Identity and reputation are a company’s most important assets,” she says. “They’re our bond with the people we serve. We want the world to know the role we play in it, the contributions we make, and the values we stand for.”

Melissa is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, the Public Relations Society of America, the Association of National Advertisers Global CMO Growth Council, and the Medill School of Journalism Board of Advisers at Northwestern University, from which she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism.