Melina Kolb

Melina Kolb, vice president for communications, joined the Institute in 2017 after working in digital media production and communications for nonprofits and the private sector. In her current role, she develops and manages PIIE's outreach strategies across platforms and events, and oversees government affairs.

Since starting at PIIE, she has crafted a content strategy that prioritizes accessible visuals, built the Institute's social media presence, improved visibility across search engines, expanded advertising and email marketing, and advanced CRM capabilities. She wrote PIIE's most popular story, "What Is Globalization?," which has been the number one Google result for "globalization," and helped design other top pieces to convey research in an engaging way to different audiences. She manages a team that regularly collaborates with scholars to ensure their research reaches key audiences in public policy, media, and the private sector using the best messaging and formats, while considering data analytics, policy developments, and the news cycle.

Kolb began her career in video production then transitioned into online storytelling, data visualizations, and digital marketing before advancing into communications. She was previously a digital producer for two years at the Population Reference Bureau, where she helped produce an interactive data feature that made the shortlist for the Kantar Information is Beautiful Award and was named one of 24 Best Interactive Websites of 2015 by Visually. Prior to that role, she was programming and production manager for The Marketing Store working on special projects for corporate clients. She also did freelance video production for four years, producing a documentary that aired on PBS Chicago.

Kolb received her MS in journalism at Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and has a BA in anthropology from the University of Chicago.