Melissa Fors Shackelford has held marketing leadership roles at industry leading healthcare companies including Optum, Hazelden Betty Ford and most recently, Cigna’s Health Services Business, Evernorth. At Evernorth she led strategic marketing for Express Scripts pharmacy benefit management services.
Prior to joining Evernorth Health Services, Melissa was Vice President of Marketing at Hazelden Betty Ford where she led the strategic marketing functions, including brand strategy, digital strategy, thought leadership, marketing technology, marketing operations and customer relationship management.
In 2019 Melissa was named Nonprofit Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association. The award, which recognizes one national nonprofit marketer annually for extraordinary leadership and achievement, is the highest honor bestowed on nonprofit marketing professionals by the AMA and its Foundation. In 2020, Melissa was the recipient of the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST Award. The TRUST Awards celebrate Minnesota women and companies that are helping the healthcare industry advance boldly into the future.
Before joining Hazelden Betty Ford in 2013, Melissa was at UnitedHealth Group’s Optum in a number of marketing leadership roles for six years.
Melissa works to advance healthcare marketing by speaking at industry conferences and writing for industry publications on topics including health care branding and marketing ethics.
Melissa has an MBA in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and a BA from the University of Minnesota. Melissa is a board member of the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST and Asbury Communities, Inc. where she chairs the Governance and Nominations Committee.