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Board of Directors
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Melissa Norcross, Ph.D., MBA
Melissa Norcross is a seasoned strategy executive who has held senior leadership roles across organizations ranging from Fortune 100 enterprises to high-growth technology companies. She co-founded the World of Business Reading Group, and is passionate about helping young people develop financial and business acumen.
Although she began her career as an engineer, her professional path has been defined by a sustained focus on strategy. She has served in multiple strategy leadership roles within the technology sector, including Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President of Corporate Strategy in software, as well as Strategy & Planning Executive at USAA. She has advised multinational organizations as a consultant, working internationally with consulting firms such as McKinsey & Co. She is also a published researcher and co-author of The Intentional Executive: A Purpose-Driven Playbook to Transform Your Leadership, Your Team, and Your Results. Melissa holds a BS in Engineering from MIT, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Ph.D. in Values-Driven Leadership from Benedictine University.
Shirley Mui-Lyles, MBA
Shirley Mui-Lyles is a strategic leader who is passionate about risk management, transformation, and continuous improvement through automation and repeatable processes while cultivating a team that ensures diversity and inclusion. During her career of over 30 years, she has consistently achieved overarching objectives and exceeded expectations in every undertaking. She has improved organizations’ bottom line by enhancing or re-engineering processes for greater efficiency, while managing enterprise and financial risks in highly regulated industries, including insurance, healthcare, banking, and national credit agencies.
Her success stems from her own curiosity to explore what others may deem impossible or hard to achieve. Since she was in high school, she reached out to underprivileged classmates with bilingual needs to help them navigate through the school system and personally tutored them to speak and read English. Despite also struggling as an immigrant with a lot to learn, she continued this mission throughout my academic career by voluntarily tutoring many immigrants with academic challenges, which ultimately encouraged them to stay in school and graduate with successful careers. Her goal is to inspire others to think beyond the social norm while maintaining integrity and being accountable to themselves. In the past five years, she has served as a board member in the organizations she worked for to promote professional development and cultural inclusion, breaking down barriers one step at a time.