Melissa Roy’s public affairs career spans 25 years working with private, public and non-profit organizations. Through public affairs, public relations, public policy, marketing, branding and economic development all built on strong relationships, she has been able to forge new paths in the public affairs field and helped connect the right stakeholders to critical projects.
As the principal of Roy Public Affairs, Melissa helped her clients expand their market, increase their brand awareness, leverage their internal communication resources, and elevate their reputation in the community. Through her 20 plus years of experience, Melissa built integrated communications platforms that include public affairs, public relations, community affairs, government relations, media, social media, and stakeholder communications.
In addition to her own firm, she most recently served as the Managing Partner for the Lambert Global Detroit office to establish their public affairs practice.
Prior to starting Roy Public Affairs Management, Melissa helped create Advancing Macomb, a business and community leadership organization focused on raising the profile of and philanthropic investment in Macomb County, Michigan’s community assets. As the organization’s founding Executive Director, she led its development to become the primary philanthropic organization in Macomb County.
She has also served in the public sector as Assistant County Executive for Macomb County, directing public affairs for County Executive Mark Hackel’s office. In this role, she led communications management and strategy; local, regional, state, and federal public policy development and relationship management. Her contributions included leading representation for Macomb County during the City of Detroit bankruptcy, implementing a new centralized communications structure, developing the County’s digital and social media platform, and launching the Make Macomb Your Home branding campaign. Additionally, she implemented a Macomb Caucus that included all levels of public officials in the county to share information and strategize on key issues.
In her tenure with the Detroit Regional Chamber, Melissa served as Senior Director in the Chamber’s government relations department where she led federal, state, and local government relationship management with a specialty in transportation, regulatory, and geopolitical issues. This included stakeholder development, advocacy, and monitoring emerging issues that impact business, trade, and infrastructure within Southeast Michigan.
Melissa has also served on the board of directors for industry and local organizations. Currently, she serves on the boards of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, The Metropolitan Affairs Coalition and Detroit PBS, where she is currently serving as chair. She is the past chair of SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation), past president of the Detroit Intermodal and Ocean Freight Association and has served on the boards for the Detroit Artists Market, Community Legal Resources, and the Eight Mile Boulevard Association. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Ms. Ellis manages operations, scheduling, and project management for Roy Public Affairs. She has provided operational support to both commercial and non-profit organizations for ten years. Additionally, Catherine serves on the board of directors for a group home services provider operating in four states across the U.S. Before her work in operations, Ms. Ellis was a K-12 teacher and continues to pursue her passion for education by working as a tutor.
Jerry Sarkody brings over 30 years of creative design experience to every project. His dossier includes over 50 different clients across an array of industries from across the country. From 2010 – Today, Jerry founded and headed Rat Mountain Design and Right On Michigan, where he built a loyal client base.
Prior to leading his own ventures, Jerry led creative design for the Detroit Regional Chamber as the Chamber’s Art Director. In this role, he developed and oversaw all branding for the Chamber. In 2009, he led the rebranding and identity structure of the Chamber. In this effort, the Chamber saw its greatest increase in cross promotion and communication to all of its audiences. Further, he led the design and creative team in both work product and administration.
Before taking on his role with the Detroit Regional Chamber, Jerry provided design services with Insite Marketing in Troy, Michigan, The Smith Group in Detroit, Michigan, JCPenny Company in Taylor and Dynamic Advertising in Redford, Michigan.
Jerry’s clients include American Defense Manufacturing, Ares Gear, Big Tex Outdoors, Beretta Defense Technologies, Brian Terry Foundation, CLEER Medical, Diplomatic Security (State Department), Eleven10 Gear, Microsoft, On Target Magazine, Raven Concealment Systems, Steiner Optics, Winkler Knives and many others.