Melissa Waggener Zorkin

Melissa Waggener Zorkin is the Global CEO and Founder of We. She has grown the company into one of the largest independent communications agencies in the world, with more than 1,500 employees, in over 100 international markets.

Melissa has cultivated long- term partnerships with many revolutionary brands in the technology, health and consumer sectors guided by a simple formula for business success: Always put people at the heart of every decision. From the start, she made the early bet that technology would change work and life, which has propelled agency expertise and growth. Driven by the purpose to use the gift of communication to inspire positive action, Melissa and We. have made a substantial impact on the communications industry across the globe.

She is an inductee of the PRWeek Hall of Fame, the PRWeek Hall of Femme and the ICCO Hall of Fame, and a repeat PRWeek Power List honoree. Under her leadership, the agency’s work perennially contends for top awards, among them PRovoke North America’s Technology PR Agency of the Year, PRWeek’s Best Places to Work, the Human Rights Campaign’s Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality and PRWeek’s Outstanding Agency Practice for US Healthcare Award.

Melissa makes mentoring new talent a personal and agency focus, meeting with every intern who has joined the agency. Externally she serves on the boards of ColorComm, The University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Public Relations, and is a regular contributor to podcasts, industry reports and forums. Fiercely independent, Melissa has helped many other women entrepreneurs build their own businesses through local and global organizations.

When she’s not working, Melissa enjoys traveling the world and many outdoor activities with her family.