CarterBaldwin Executive Search is honored to partner with charity: water in the naming of Melissa Russell as the global nonprofit’s first President.
Melissa joins charity: water following more than 16 years at International Justice Mission where she served as Chief Advancement Officer, President, North America, and Chair for Global Revenue. While leading the North America region, Melissa was responsible for a $100M+ revenue, 160+ staff and programs, and the daily operations of the region including transnational corporate supply chain projects, private donor engagement, government advocacy strategic planning, fiscal management, program development, HR, brand and communications, business intelligence and data, athlete and influencer relationships, board engagement and DE&I.
Prior to IJM, Melissa was the Associate Director of Development for the University of Texas at Austin. She began her career as a Consultant for Kingsley Media in Austin, and as Director of Marketing for KPMG.
Melissa earned her MA in advertising and BS in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a nonprofit finance certificate from Rice University and a Diversity and Inclusion certification from Cornell University. She also participated in Harvard Business School’s Executive Education High Potentials Leadership Program.
About charity: water
Charity: water is a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe water to people around the world. Since its founding in 2006 by Scott Harrison, charity: water has been chasing one ambitious goal: ending the global water crisis. Sixteen years later, with the help of more than 1 million supporters worldwide, charity: water has raised over $750 million and funded over 152,000 water projects in 29 countries. When completed, those projects will provide over 18.4 million people with clean, safe drinking water.
