Melissa Roy’s public affairs career spans 25 years working with private, public and non-profit organizations. Designing projects through a confluence of public affairs, public relations, public policy, marketing, branding and economic development projects, all built on strong relationships, she has been able to forge new paths in the communications field and helped connect the right stakeholders to critical projects.
With Roy Public Affairs, Melissa has developed and implemented strategies for clients across Michigan ranging from non-profits, local governments, institutions and private sector businesses.
Prior to starting Roy Public Affairs Management, Melissa launched Advancing Macomb, the community’s foundational business and community leadership organization, focused on raising the profile of and philanthropic investment in the community’s assets.
Immediately prior, she 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. She centralized the county’s communications structure, developing the County’s digital and social media platform, and launched the communications structure for the newly-implemented county government structure.
Melissa started her career with the Detroit Regional Chamber leading advocacy and policy development focused on economic development.
Melissa has served on the board of directors for industry and local organizations. Currently, she serves on the boards of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Six Rivers Land Conservancy 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 Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, 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.
Kate Trost is a Hope College 2022 graduate with a major in Business and an emphasis on Marketing. Most notably, during the summers of 2021 and 2022, she developed and executed marketing and fundraising activities for the Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI, including the 2022 “$500,000 for 50 Years” email marketing campaign. Since then, she has worked in marketing for small businesses throughout the Grosse Pointe and St. Clair Shores area. At Roy Public Affairs, she builds social media campaigns from vision to implementation. In her free time, she is actively involved in Christ Church Grosse Pointe’s volunteer programs, serving as a Eucharistic Minister and Verger, and is also a dedicated member of the Grosse Pointe Sunrise Rotary.
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.