Melissa Fors Shackelford
Author, Principal and CEO at Shackelford Strategies
Health, Wellness and Fitness
Education: University of Minnesotra - University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Biography
Melissa Fors Shackelford is a trusted advisor to executives and emerging businesses, helping organizations build compelling brands, accelerate market growth, and navigate the complexities of the healthcare industry. With over 20 years of experience as a healthcare marketing executive—including leadership roles at Optum, Hazelden Betty Ford, and Cigna’s Evernorth—Melissa brings deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, brand positioning, and growth marketing to her consulting practice, Shackelford Strategies.
As a sought-after consultant and advisor, Melissa partners with C-Suite leaders, startups, and established healthcare brands to refine messaging, strengthen market positioning, and drive customer engagement. She provides hands-on guidance to help businesses launch new offerings, enter new markets, and scale sustainably.
Melissa is a recognized thought leader in healthcare marketing and brand strategy. She is a frequent industry speaker, podcast guest, and contributor to leading publications, covering topics such as purpose-driven marketing, inclusive communications, and healthcare branding. Her expertise has earned her prestigious honors, including Nonprofit Marketer of the Year (American Marketing Association, 2019), the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST Award (2020), and recognition as one of the Top 50 Women in Healthcare (2025).
Melissa’s book, Harnessing Purpose: A Marketer’s Guide to Inspiring Connection, has solidified her reputation as a leading voice in the field, offering actionable strategies for marketers and startups aiming to create meaningful impact. With a focus on authentic, values-driven strategy, Melissa helps brands foster deeper connections, spark creativity, and lead purposefully. Her work offers practical tools for marketers and leaders alike, blending real-world insight with a clear, inclusive approach to modern marketing.
In addition to her professional achievements, Melissa actively serves the healthcare community through board roles, including as chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee for Asbury Communities, Inc., and as a board member for the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST. She also contributes her expertise to the American Hospital Association's Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) Editorial Advisory Board.
Melissa holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a BA from the University of Minnesota. She is driven by a commitment to leveraging marketing as a force for good, creating meaningful change in the healthcare landscape, and empowering others to do the same.
Passion
Purpose Driven Marketing and Branding, smashing healthcare stigma, mental health and addiction
Best Story
Breaking down health care stigma, finding purpose for self and brands
Example talks
Harnessing Purpose: How Marketers Can Lead with Meaning—and Still Drive Results
In a noisy, metrics-obsessed world, it’s easy for marketers to lose sight of why the work matters. But purpose isn’t just a positioning exercise—it’s a lever for clarity, alignment, and sustained performance.
This session draws from Melissa Fors Shackelford’s book Harnessing Purpose to offer a practical guide for brand and agency marketers seeking to reconnect teams, campaigns, and creative with deeper meaning. You’ll learn how to embed purpose into strategy and day-to-day work without losing sight of deadlines, deliverables, or bottom-line goals.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Define what a purpose-driven strategy really looks like in a brand or agency setting.
- Understand how to align internal teams around shared values, not just business KPIs.
- Learn how purpose can serve as a filter for messaging, prioritization, and brand consistency.
- Explore tools and frameworks to help teams re-center on meaning, especially during high-growth or high-stakes phases.
Breaking Barriers: Addressing Stigma as a Clinical and Community Health Imperative
reduces treatment-seeking behavior, complicates diagnoses, and deepens disparities—especially for marginalized communities.
Words and Imagery Can Heal or Harm
Through analysis of common healthcare language and imagery, attendees will learn how to identify and shift away from unintentionally stigmatizing communication toward language that affirms identity, agency, and humanity.
A More Inclusive Path Forward is Possible
Participants will leave with practical tools to create more inclusive environments, including strategies for person-centered care, diverse representation, and authentic storytelling that rebuilds trust and supports long-term outcomes.
The Power of Authentic Communication to Build Trust and Loyalty
Who this keynote is for:
Marketing and communications leaders seeking to build trust in a crowded marketplace
Brand strategists and CMOs navigating purpose alignment across internal and external messaging
HR and DEI leaders invested in internal culture and brand congruence
Founders and executives of mission-driven organizations
Healthcare, nonprofit, and social impact professionals where trust, storytelling, and equity are central to success
This audience likely feels the pressure to “get messaging right” while maintaining integrity—and is looking for guidance that’s grounded, inclusive, and actionable.
The Hidden Power of Purpose: Why Meaning, Not Money, Will Shape the Future
In a world grappling with burnout, loneliness, and an ongoing search for identity, the most overlooked force reshaping how we live and connect isn’t technology or economics—it’s purpose.
Through powerful stories and insights drawn from her own journey, Melissa Fors Shackelford makes a compelling case for why reconnecting with purpose—our personal “why”—isn’t just good for our well-being, it’s vital to creating a future grounded in trust, belonging, and meaning.
This isn’t a talk about how companies succeed—it’s about how people do. Melissa explores how purpose transforms not only how we show up in our work but how we lead ourselves, our families, and our communities. Whether you're 25 or 65, figuring out what truly matters can spark clarity, confidence, and the courage to live more intentionally.
Combining lived experience, behavioral science, and the wisdom of her book Harnessing Purpose, Melissa offers an uplifting, inclusive invitation to redefine success—not by what we earn, but by the impact we leave behind.Key Takeaways:
• How discovering personal purpose can ignite energy, direction, and fulfillment in everyday life
• Why purpose is linked to better mental health, stronger relationships, and greater resilience
• How to distinguish between “purpose-washing” and real meaning—and why it matters
• Simple, human-centered practices anyone can use to reconnect with what matters most
The Hidden Power of Purpose: Why Meaning, Not Money, Will Shape the Future Speaker:
In a world grappling with burnout, loneliness, and an ongoing search for identity, the most overlooked force reshaping how we live and connect isn’t technology or economics—it’s purpose.
Through powerful stories and insights drawn from her own journey, Melissa Fors Shackelford makes a compelling case for why reconnecting with purpose—our personal “why”—isn’t just good for our well-being, it’s vital to creating a future grounded in trust, belonging, and meaning.
This isn’t a talk about how companies succeed—it’s about how people do. Melissa explores how purpose transforms not only how we show up in our work but how we lead ourselves, our families, and our communities. Whether you're 25 or 65, figuring out what truly matters can spark clarity, confidence, and the courage to live more intentionally.
Combining lived experience, behavioral science, and the wisdom of her book Harnessing Purpose, Melissa offers an uplifting, inclusive invitation to redefine success—not by what we earn, but by the impact we leave behind.
Featured Video
Featured Book
I am willing to travel
More than 100 miles
Topics
Best Story
Breaking down health care stigma, finding purpose for self and brands
Example talks
Harnessing Purpose: How Marketers Can Lead with Meaning—and Still Drive Results
In a noisy, metrics-obsessed world, it’s easy for marketers to lose sight of why the work matters. But purpose isn’t just a positioning exercise—it’s a lever for clarity, alignment, and sustained performance.
This session draws from Melissa Fors Shackelford’s book Harnessing Purpose to offer a practical guide for brand and agency marketers seeking to reconnect teams, campaigns, and creative with deeper meaning. You’ll learn how to embed purpose into strategy and day-to-day work without losing sight of deadlines, deliverables, or bottom-line goals.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Define what a purpose-driven strategy really looks like in a brand or agency setting.
- Understand how to align internal teams around shared values, not just business KPIs.
- Learn how purpose can serve as a filter for messaging, prioritization, and brand consistency.
- Explore tools and frameworks to help teams re-center on meaning, especially during high-growth or high-stakes phases.
Breaking Barriers: Addressing Stigma as a Clinical and Community Health Imperative
reduces treatment-seeking behavior, complicates diagnoses, and deepens disparities—especially for marginalized communities.
Words and Imagery Can Heal or Harm
Through analysis of common healthcare language and imagery, attendees will learn how to identify and shift away from unintentionally stigmatizing communication toward language that affirms identity, agency, and humanity.
A More Inclusive Path Forward is Possible
Participants will leave with practical tools to create more inclusive environments, including strategies for person-centered care, diverse representation, and authentic storytelling that rebuilds trust and supports long-term outcomes.
The Power of Authentic Communication to Build Trust and Loyalty
Who this keynote is for:
Marketing and communications leaders seeking to build trust in a crowded marketplace
Brand strategists and CMOs navigating purpose alignment across internal and external messaging
HR and DEI leaders invested in internal culture and brand congruence
Founders and executives of mission-driven organizations
Healthcare, nonprofit, and social impact professionals where trust, storytelling, and equity are central to success
This audience likely feels the pressure to “get messaging right” while maintaining integrity—and is looking for guidance that’s grounded, inclusive, and actionable.
The Hidden Power of Purpose: Why Meaning, Not Money, Will Shape the Future
In a world grappling with burnout, loneliness, and an ongoing search for identity, the most overlooked force reshaping how we live and connect isn’t technology or economics—it’s purpose.
Through powerful stories and insights drawn from her own journey, Melissa Fors Shackelford makes a compelling case for why reconnecting with purpose—our personal “why”—isn’t just good for our well-being, it’s vital to creating a future grounded in trust, belonging, and meaning.
This isn’t a talk about how companies succeed—it’s about how people do. Melissa explores how purpose transforms not only how we show up in our work but how we lead ourselves, our families, and our communities. Whether you're 25 or 65, figuring out what truly matters can spark clarity, confidence, and the courage to live more intentionally.
Combining lived experience, behavioral science, and the wisdom of her book Harnessing Purpose, Melissa offers an uplifting, inclusive invitation to redefine success—not by what we earn, but by the impact we leave behind.Key Takeaways:
• How discovering personal purpose can ignite energy, direction, and fulfillment in everyday life
• Why purpose is linked to better mental health, stronger relationships, and greater resilience
• How to distinguish between “purpose-washing” and real meaning—and why it matters
• Simple, human-centered practices anyone can use to reconnect with what matters most
The Hidden Power of Purpose: Why Meaning, Not Money, Will Shape the Future Speaker:
In a world grappling with burnout, loneliness, and an ongoing search for identity, the most overlooked force reshaping how we live and connect isn’t technology or economics—it’s purpose.
Through powerful stories and insights drawn from her own journey, Melissa Fors Shackelford makes a compelling case for why reconnecting with purpose—our personal “why”—isn’t just good for our well-being, it’s vital to creating a future grounded in trust, belonging, and meaning.
This isn’t a talk about how companies succeed—it’s about how people do. Melissa explores how purpose transforms not only how we show up in our work but how we lead ourselves, our families, and our communities. Whether you're 25 or 65, figuring out what truly matters can spark clarity, confidence, and the courage to live more intentionally.
Combining lived experience, behavioral science, and the wisdom of her book Harnessing Purpose, Melissa offers an uplifting, inclusive invitation to redefine success—not by what we earn, but by the impact we leave behind.