Melmark Hires Senior Director to Oversee Communications and Advocacy

Michelle Bradsher-McHugh, MS Assumes New Cross-Division Role

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Nov 18, 2019, 11:00 ET

BERWYN, Pa. and ANDOVER, Mass. and CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Melmark, Inc. has announced the hiring of Michelle Bradsher-McHugh, MS for the position of Senior Director of Communications, Advocacy and Marketing. Ms. McHugh assumed the role on September 30, 2019.

Michelle McHugh, MS
Senior Director of Communications, Advocacy and Marketing
Melmark, Inc. — Michelle McHugh, MS Senior Director of Communications, Advocacy and Marketing Melmark, Inc.

Ms. McHugh brings to this position nearly twenty years of experience in communications and team leadership, as well as a robust knowledge of the media landscape at the local, regional and national level. She most recently served as associate director of Drexel's Television Management Graduate Program, focusing on marketing, recruitment and teaching in an online environment. Ms. McHugh is uniquely knowledgeable of Melmark's cross-division programs, as she served as the organization's Director of Communications for six years before taking on a professorship. She remained a supporter of Melmark's mission-first work while teaching and spending more time with her family.

"Michelle's commitment to communicating and raising awareness of the organization's mission, strategic goals and fidelity of Melmark's services has never wavered," said President and CEO Rita M. Gardner, M.P.H., LABA, BCBA. "She brings the skills to amplify that communication to broader stakeholders nationally, to the legislators in the states we work and to a wider array of philanthropic partners."

In this new role, McHugh will provide oversight and strategic direction for the internal and external communications, advancement communications and legislative outreach.

"I am thrilled to be a part of Melmark's mission-first team during this very important time in the organization's growth," said McHugh. "This new position brings exciting opportunities to raise awareness of the clinically-sophisticated services Melmark offers, not only in Pennsylvania and New England, but also in my home state of North Carolina, where so much work remains to be done to provide high-quality evidence-based special education programs to the children who need and deserve them."

McHugh received her undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She worked as an executive producer in the Greensboro area for nearly ten years before moving to the Philadelphia Television Market, where she worked as a news producer and executive producer for KYW-TV and WCAU-TV. She holds a master's degree in interactive communications and media from Quinnipiac University, is an Emmy Award winning writer and six-time regional Emmy nominee, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Melmark is a not-for-profit organization providing clinically-sophisticated evidence-based special education, residential, vocational and therapeutic services for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, developmental and intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injuries and other neurological and genetic disorders. Recognized as one of the leading providers in the country, Melmark has a combined staff of over 1,200 and serves 1,000 individuals from across the country. To learn more, visit www.melmark.org.

SOURCE Melmark