Melissa Ruth

Melissa Ruth has a diverse and extensive work experience spanning various roles and industries. Melissa is currently the Vice President of Operations at Formative, a position they assumed in 2022. Prior to this, Melissa served as the Chief Strategy Officer at Innovative Services NW from 2018 to 2022, where they partnered with the CEO and Board of Directors to provide strategic planning and supervision over daily operations. Melissa also held the role of VP of Operations at Fish Marketing from 2015 to 2017, where they directed agency operations and served as a key business advisor to the CEO.

Melissa's experience also includes being self-employed as a Business Operations/Management Independent Contractor from 2014 to 2015. During this time, they worked with mid-sized agencies and small businesses to provide organizational development and infrastructure support for growth. Melissa also held a Director of Operations position at Salt & Straw on a consulting contract in 2015, where they created a scalable operational structure for IT, HR, and finance.

Prior to their self-employment, Melissa worked at Liquid Agency from 2009 to 2014, starting as a Client Director and progressing to roles such as Managing Director and Director of Operations. In these positions, they played a significant role in operational management and client relationships. Before joining Liquid Agency, Melissa worked at Razorfish as a Client Partner from 2003 to 2008, leading cross-functional teams for strategic branding and marketing campaigns for Microsoft.

Their early career included a role as a Visual Merchandising Manager at Microsoft Corporation from 1998 to 2003. In this role, they collaborated with channel marketing and sales teams to create retail campaigns for Microsoft Windows, managing the visual merchandising strategy and implementation with national retailers.

Overall, Melissa Ruth has demonstrated strong leadership and operational management skills throughout their career, working in various capacities to support organizational growth and success.

Melissa Ruth attended Willamette University from 1994 to 1998, where they obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics and German. Additionally, they were a matriculated student at Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg from 1996 to 1997, studying the German language and culture for a period of six months.