Leadership team

Alisa joined Merritt Group in 1997 and helped to build and shape the agency since its founding. She has led award-winning campaigns for clients in technology, healthcare and government that leverage the right mix of modern marketing, communications and PR strategies to move their businesses forward. In addition to launching dozens of technology and healthcare start-ups over the years, she also helped to reshape a number of established brands.

In 2023, Alisa was named WWPR’s 2023 Woman of the Year. In 2019, Alisa was honored with a Silver Award for Female Executive of the Year in the annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. In 2015 and 2016, she was named a finalist for DC Inno’s “50 on Fire” and, in 2016, a finalist in Women In Technology’s (WIT) Annual Leadership Awards. Alisa is a champion of Merritt Group’s culture, recognized as a “Great Place to Work” by both Washingtonian and Washington Business Journal. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations, including the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Neighborhood Health and the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia.

Prior to joining Merritt Group, Alisa worked at Ruder Finn in Washington, D.C. and the international architectural firm of Leo A Daly as part of the marketing team. She graduated with a BA from Dickinson College and also studied Economic Policy at American University.

While not at work, Alisa spends time with her family and husband John, loves exploring life through the eyes of her two little boys, does pilates and tries to make a difference in her community.

Tom has over 20 years of experience driving strategic marketing communications campaigns for his technology and healthcare-focused clients –  garnering widespread attention and achieving high-impact results. Tom oversees Merritt Group’s Healthcare Practice and also leads the company’s business development and marketing efforts.

Tom has a proven track record of building and managing high-performing teams. He has deep experience in everything under the marketing communications umbrella – public relations, analyst relations, internal communications, executive communications, crisis communications, thought leadership, content/social marketing, etc. Before joining Merritt, Tom was a vice president at Ein Communications and graduated from George Mason University.

Tom’s interests outside of work are his family, travel and passionately following his sports teams. Tom is married with three children.

John joined Merritt Group in 2001, bringing his writing and storytelling experience to the team. Today he provides oversight of the Emerging Technology Group, Human Resources and Client Service. Over the past years, John has supported the strategic communications efforts on numerous client accounts – including Battelle, Booz Allen Hamilton, CalAmp, Medallia and Verizon to name a few – applying his skills in media relations, analyst relations, social media, writing, messaging and digital.

Prior to joining Merritt Group, John wrote for technology publications covering everything from regulatory issues at the FCC to 3G wireless technology (long before it was a reality) and both personal and business computing. John graduated with a BA in English from The College of William & Mary.

John lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Amy, and twin boys. In his free time, you will find him grilling some sort of meat on his Big Green Egg.

During his time at Merritt Group, Jayson has taken on many unique strategic roles in support of our clients while helping to drive the agency’s growth. He started his career at Merritt as a senior public relations account executive in the firm’s Government and Enterprise Technology practice. Jayson rose up through the agency to become a partner and a key member of the firm’s senior leadership team. Along the way, Jayson led the agency’s Enterprise Technology Group, servicing major B2B public relations clients including Teradata, Microsoft, Software AG and Unisys. More than a decade ago, Jayson took Merritt in a new direction by founding the agency’s award-winning Marketing and Digital Services practice.

Under his leadership, the emerging practice helped clients including Booz Allen Hamilton, Battelle, Deloitte, General Dynamics and others communicate their messages effectively through the right mix of earned, owned and paid media channels. Today, Jayson serves as a senior marketing strategist to Merritt Group industry-leading global technology clients including Samsung Electronics America and others.

For the last two decades, Jayson has built a career providing a unique blend of marketing strategy, business development, digital and social media, and public relations counsel to companies ranging from venture-funded start-ups to global organizations. He graduated from Salisbury University with a BA in Mass Communications and Business Administration.

When he is not busy working with clients, Jayson enjoys spending his free time cycling, sailing, and relaxing with his family.

Shahed has been with Merritt Group for more than a decade, and is responsible for oversight of the agency’s Marketing Services. Shahed’s career began in the dot.com era as a reporter for CNET and evolved into more PR and marketing roles timed to the rise of mega-trends like mobile, social, cloud and big data. In roles spanning both B2C and B2B technology – in corporate and agency settings – Shahed has developed deep knowledge of the technology market over the past two decades.

He can talk bits and bytes, but clients value his remarkable ability to turn “in the weeds” technologies into compelling storylines and messages for business audiences and C-level audiences. Shahed has experience in managing corporate and financial communications, global product launches, IPOs and acquisitions, as well as developing strategic and integrated creative, digital and content marketing campaigns that drive sales. Shahed has a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland.

When not wearing his marketing cap, he enjoys watching and playing basketball, reading about physics, cars and philosophy and spending as much time as possible with his wife and daughter.

As Senior Vice President, Michelle heads up Merritt Group’s dedicated Cybersecurity Practice where she applies nearly two decades of hands-on marketing and PR-related security experience spanning every discipline. She is known for creating and implementing strategic communications campaigns that drive strong media results for clients such as Strategic Cyber Ventures, CrowdStrike, Black Hat, Venafi and MACH37. Michelle’s security team has represented more than 80 security clients over the past 20 years.

Michelle has presented at NVTC, Security B-Sides, RVASec and ISSA events and has been recognized as a top influencer in the security community. Prior to Merritt, Michelle led a team of wireless researchers at Current Analysis and held corporate communications positions at Advanced Switching Communications and 2nd Century Communications. She holds a BA in Communications with a specialization in PR and Advertising from George Mason University.

When not working in security, she can be found supporting Starbucks, cheering on her son or relaxing on an island in the Caribbean.

Matt has been with the Merritt Group for over a decade and leads the agency’s Government and Healthcare practices. In this role, he’s responsible for creating strategic content marketing and communications campaigns that influence enterprise technology decision-makers in these key vertical markets. Matt’s clients range from public sector divisions of global technology companies to emerging health IT startups, including Microsoft, Deloitte, Monster, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, ServiceNow, Riverbed, Avizia, MedGenome and HealthTap.

Prior to joining Merritt Group, Matt worked for National Public Radio, supporting member station relations and show promotion. He holds BAs in English and Psychology from Syracuse University and an MA in Public Communication from American University.

Outside of work, Matt enjoys playing golf and tennis and obsessively rooting for the Syracuse Orange.

Melissa heads MG Studio, Merritt Group’s content, creative, and video production team. In addition to helping Merritt Group’s clients shape and deliver compelling stories that convert, she oversees marketing strategy and execution for clients spanning large multinational corporations like Samsung and Microsoft to innovative, fast-growth startups in emerging technology markets.

Before joining the agency, Melissa worked internally as a member of the Marketing PR team at Nextel Communications (now T-Mobile), where she supported campaign work across a portfolio of product PR, vertical industry PR, celebrity promotions, analyst relations, and high-profile NASCAR sponsorship. She double-majored in English and German at the University of Virginia (go HOOS!) and completed her coursework toward a MA in Communications from Johns Hopkins University.

When Melissa is not reading and writing, she can be found playing with her kiddo, spoiling her guinea pigs, or sampling some sushi.

Colleen manages and oversees all aspects of the Human Resources function for Merritt Group, including organizational development, strategic planning, compensation and benefits, compliance, training, company culture and office management. As a result, Merritt Group has built a strong culture of smart, hard-working, fun-loving and team-oriented individuals.

After graduating from Marshall University with a degree in Health Science, she found herself working in the HR field and never looked back. Colleen spent almost 10 years working in the government contracting industry before joining Merritt Group in 2015. She also holds a Society of Human Resources Management – Certified Professional certification.

Colleen is a busy mom of two young boys who spends most of her weekends playing superheroes and frequenting playgrounds. When she does have some time to herself, she enjoys golfing with her husband, trying out new restaurants and baking.

Paul is an experienced finance executive skilled in systems implementation, strategic planning, accounting and thought leadership. Paul graduated with a BS focused in finance from Old Dominion University. He oversees the finance department and its work to maintain the financial health of the organization – including oversight and governance of the annual planning and budgeting process, developing accurate monthly forecasts, directing audit and tax activities and promotion of strong internal controls and management safeguards.

Paul leads and directs all day-to-day contracts administration activities – including negotiations, review of commercial and government contract awards; issuance of various contractual documents to customers, partners and vendors; and organizational compliance with commercial and government contract requirements.

During his down time, Paul regularly enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, golf, basketball, softball, water skiing and just about anything outdoors.