As senior vice president of KCSA Strategic Communications, Ellen brings clients 25 years of strategy, public affairs, communications, issue/change management and crisis communications experience that was honed across the corporate, political, government, entertainment, technology and cannabis industries. Prior to joining KCSA, Ellen cofounded Powerplant Global Strategies, one of the first strategic partnerships, communications and investor relations firms exclusively focused on the legal cannabis industry.

Mellody has worked in strategy, communications and media relations positions with two White House administrations, at Comcast-NBCUniversal, General Electric, The North Face and as a co-founder and partner at Collective Consulting, a strategic communications and geopolitical strategy firm.

She has brought her strategy and communications expertise to three presidential campaigns (Gore 2000, Kerry 2004 and Obama 2008) and the Office of the New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, where she served as a primary spokesperson to the governor and liaison to the 9-11 Families and memorial.

Throughout her career, Ellen has served in various locations around the globe and has worked with clients such as HBO, ABC-Disney, Sony, WarnerMedia, Big Machine Records, Merida Capital Partners, Jushi Holdings Inc., Harvest Health & Recreation, Glass House Group, Vicente Sederberg and Marijuana Policy Project.

Mellody holds certificates of achievement from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an Emmy, a degree in Communications from the University of Scranton and is a National Outdoor Leadership School Wind River Mountaineering graduate.