Winona State University of Minnesota announces Kelsey (Gowin) Mellard will be honored as a Distinguished Young Alumna during Homecoming 2016.
Mellard, a community health major, was a scholarship varsity soccer player for the WSU women’s soccer team and was deeply involved in peer health education. She graduated in 2006 and continued her health education at the University of Kansas, where she received a master’s in public administration in 2008.
Mellard was selected as one of the top 100 Women in Healthcare by Rock Health, and is a nationally recognized and sought after speaker on Medicare and Medicaid health reform, specifically with payment and delivery. She has held many influential positions in the healthcare field including: research assistant at Kaiser Family Foundation; administrative fellow at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, senior consultant at Advisory Board Company, chief of staff and special assistant at Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, vice president of health policy at UnitedHealth Group, vice president of business development and policy at naviHealth, and founder and executive director of Post-Acute Care for Research, Washington, D.C.
Mellard currently heads up Health System Integration, is an advisor to Global One, is an adjunct faculty member at WSU and is a consultant to GLG professional learning. She resides in San Francisco, Calif.
Every year the Winona State University Alumni Society recognizes alumni, faculty, staff and community members for the accomplishments they have made in their careers and contributions they have made to Winona State and their communities, living Winona State’s mission to improve the world.
More information on the awards can be found at www.winona.edu/alumni.
