Melissa is a forward-thinking strategist with a multifaceted perspective and deep insights into global marketing, public relations, communications, industry engagement, diversity & inclusion, technology, and commercial relationship building across hospitality and other sectors. Melissa is a trusted advisor and thought leader who leverages 20 years of experience at Fortune 500 Expedia Group to establish and implement strategies, deploy operational and branding solutions, form business relationships, and drive innovative business solutions.

Melissa most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President of Marketing and Industry Engagement at Expedia Group where she oversaw business-to-business Marketing, Communications, Industry Engagement, Strategic Events, Partner Loyalty & Owner Relations. Prior to that, Melissa was Expedia Group’s first Chief Inclusion Officer championing diversity and creating a sense of belonging for Expedia Group’s employees, customers, partners and communicates. Melissa also served as Senior Vice President of Global Partner Group at Expedia Group where she set strategy and direction and led the commercial teams in executing plans to maximize performance across the lodging partner division while cultivating and managing Expedia Group’s strategic partnerships, and managed for the global chains, key accounts, and connectivity partners.

Active in the hospitality industry, Melissa is an Advisory Board Member for Women in Travel Thrive and has received several honors such as Top 40 Women in Travel by WINiT by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and 30 Influential Women in Hospitality by Hotel Management.

Passionate about the travel industry from a young age, Melissa graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) with a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management. Melissa also earned her Master of Business Administration from UNLV. Melissa has earned her Professional Executive Coaching certification and Life Mastery Consultant certification from Brave Thinking Institute. Melissa is currently a candidate for NACD (National Association of Certified Directors) Directorship Certification.