Melissa has been recognized twice by PRWeek, the world’s leading PR and Communications publication, as a Top 15 PR Professional to watch (nationally). In 2021, she was named to the South Florida Business Journal’s esteemed 40 Under 40 list. She was also celebrated by South Florida Business & Wealth Magazine as a 2017 Up & Comer; Boca Life Magazine as one of the publication’s 2014 40 Under 40; and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as part of the publication’s 2012 Top Workplaces Awards.
Melissa is Immediate Past President of the Gold Coast Public Relations Council (GCPRC), South Florida’s largest independent group of PR, marketing and communications professionals. She is a Voting Board Member for Maccabi USA (MUSA), a federally-recognized not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with an extensive history of enriching Jewish lives through athletic, cultural and educational programs. She was also Commissioner of the Maccabi USA Endurance Team at the Maccabiah World Games in Israel in 2022. Melissa is also an Executive Member of the Friends of Brown Track & Field organization, which was formed in June 2020 and was instrumental in reinstating the Brown University Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams.
A former Florida State Champion and Division I athlete, Melissa has been running competitively since 1996. She represented Team USA in the World Maccabiah Games in Israel four times (1997, 2013, 2017, 2022) and twice in Europe (Berlin 2015, Budapest 2019) – medaling every single time. Today, Melissa is a competitive marathon runner – boasting a personal best of 2 hours and 49 minutes – and is chasing an Olympic Trials Qualifying Time!
