Melissa Milburn
Title
Senior Communications Officer, PNW
Organization
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Melissa Milburn joined the foundation in 2007 to help launch a central media relations team. She is now the communications lead for the Pacific Northwest grantmaking, family interest grants, and the foundation campus and Visitor Center.
Prior to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melissa's PR firm provided strategic communications and media relations for privately-held technology companies, and non-profit organizations. Before that, she led the international technology public relations team at APCO Worldwide, where she and her team provided corporate positioning, media training, crisis communications, risk management and media relations for a wide range of clients, including Social Venture Partners, GreaterGood.com and the Gates Libraries Foundation. At Waggener Edstrom Strategic Communications, Microsoft's long-time agency of record, Melissa managed the broadcast/online e-media team.
Melissa's 12 years of television broadcasting experience includes news anchoring, producing, reporting, writing and editing for U.S. network affiliates in several U.S. cities for ABC, NBC and CBS.