Melissa Edwards is a community strategist who has served in leadership roles within the philanthropic and not-for-profit industry. For more than 15 years Edwards has successfully aligned corporate social responsibility missions with community outreach needs.
Edwards is no stranger to not-for-profits, as she has extensively served in leadership roles that represent the needs of the arts, human services and education for the greater Houston community. She is currently the executive director for American Diabetes Association Central South Texas area and oversees a 3.8 million-dollar budget for the Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi and San Antonio markets. In her first six months at the ADA she was responsible for leading the logistical execution of Harvey relief efforts for Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Unprecedented for the ADA, more than 8,000 pounds of insulin and other medical supplies were shipped to Houston for relief. Harvey relief efforts resulted in the first ever coalition led by the American Diabetes Association with Insulin for Life USA, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Endocrine Society, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American Association of Diabetes Educators, Research!America and T1D Exchange to become the Diabetes Emergency Relief Coalition.
Edwards graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in art history. She served three years with UH Regent Appointment to the System-Wide Art Acquisition Committee and two terms as board chairman for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board. She currently serves on the UH College of Art Advisory Board and UH Friends of Women’s Studies.
She is also currently serving her second six-year term on the Texas Council on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. In 2009, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst appointed Edwards to her first six-year term after she served five years on the board of directors for the Alzheimer’s Association Houston and Southeast Chapter. She also serves on the board of directors and the executive committee for the Darrell K. Royal Fund for Alzheimer’s Research.
Edwards has also served on the boards of Neighborhood Centers, Theatre Under The Stars, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Boys and Girls Harbor, SEARCH for the Homeless and the Houston Zoo Education Committee. She chaired events for Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, 60th Annual Consular Ball, Women’s Fund, Neighborhood Centers, American Diabetes Association, Culinary Institute of Houston, University of Houston, El Centro de Corazon, H.E.A.R.T, the Weather Museum, Ensemble Theatre and Boys and Girls Harbor. Melissa is a Leadership Houston Class 29 alum and has been a philanthropy panelist for the Raindrop Foundation and Leadership Houston.
University of Houston named her a 2014 UH Frontier Fiesta Honoree. In 2011 she received the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine “Excellence in Bloom” award and was named one of Houston Woman Magazine “50 Most Influential Women in Houston.” Edwards was honored in 2010 as an ABC Channel 13 Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Woman of Distinction, and in 2008 she was named one of five Outstanding Young Houstonians by the Houston Jaycees, and one of five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees.
Executive Director, Central South Texas
American Diabetes Association
7670 Woodway Drive, Suite 230 Houston 77063
713-977-7706 x6091
