Melissa Lackey

President & CEO

Melissa works closely with senior executives in health care, higher education, professional services and other sectors to build trust with those who matter most to their business success.

Melissa is owner, president and CEO of Standing Partnership. She and her partners bought the firm from the founder in 2014, after working at the company for 15 years in various positions. Since then, she’s been intentional about transitioning the company from its PR roots to a full-service strategic marketing consultancy.

In addition to running the firm, Melissa works closely with senior executives to help grow their businesses—whether it’s removing obstacles to growth and mitigating risk or designing marketing strategies to attract/retain customers.

Melissa is a skilled facilitator and consultant whose expertise lies in setting strategy and bringing cross-functional teams together to create results. She counts B2B marketing, digital strategy, lead generation, and sales enablement among the many tools in her toolbox. Melissa also frequently is called on to help organizations navigate crises and issues, and effectively manage change.

Her clients span a multitude of industries, including health care, professional services and manufacturing—among others. Prior to joining Standing Partnership, she spent 10 years in financial services.

Melissa believes in giving back. She sits on the board of directors for United Way of Greater St. Louis and serves on the executive committee as Vice Chair of the Metro Board for Gateway Region YMCA.

She has been a recipient of the Enterprising Women of the Year award – widely considered one of the most prestigious recognition programs for women business owners, and is a past honoree of the St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Business Women award. Under her leadership, the firm was recently recognized as one of Small Business Monthly’s Winning Workplaces.

Melissa earned her master’s degree in business administration from Maryville University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.