Melissa Cassar
About Melissa Cassar
Melissa Cassar serves as the Head of Corporate Affairs & Commercial Communications at Thomson Reuters, where she focuses on crisis management and communication strategies. With a background in economics and international relations, she has held various leadership roles in corporate communications across notable organizations such as Visa, HSBC, and BNY Mellon.
Current Role at Thomson Reuters
Melissa Cassar serves as the Head of Corporate Affairs & Commercial Communications at Thomson Reuters since 2020. In this role, she leads crisis and risk management communications, with a focus on cybersecurity, privacy, and technology issues. Cassar partners with marketing and business unit leaders to enhance product and innovation launches, which accelerates customer acquisition and increases client retention. She also drives change management communications as the organization transitions from a holding company to an operating company.
Previous Experience at Visa
Cassar worked at Visa in two significant roles. Initially, she served as the Head of Corporate & Public Affairs for Canada from 2010 to 2012, based in Toronto, Ontario. Following this, she held the position of Head of Global Public Affairs and Policy Communications from 2012 to 2015 in San Francisco, California. In these roles, she was responsible for managing corporate communications and public affairs strategies.
Professional Background in Banking Communications
Melissa Cassar has held several senior communication roles in the banking sector. She was the Senior Vice President and Head of Communications at HSBC Bank USA from 2017 to 2019 in New York. Prior to that, she was the Vice President and Head of North America Communications & Events at BNY Mellon Investment Management from 2015 to 2017, also in New York. In these positions, she served as a top spokesperson, enhancing the market position of the companies.
Education and Academic Qualifications
Cassar holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Relations (Honours) from the University of Toronto. She furthered her education by obtaining a Master of Arts in International Communications from the University of Leeds. Additionally, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, between 2016 and 2018.
Early Career and Initial Roles
Melissa Cassar began her career as a Legislative Assistant to a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2000 to 2003. She then transitioned to the corporate communications field, serving as Director of Corporate & Public Affairs at Veritas Communications from 2006 to 2008, followed by a role as Senior Vice President at FleishmanHillard from 2008 to 2010 in Toronto.