Melissa Thompson is Vice President, Philanthropic Giving and President of the McKesson Foundation at McKesson Corporation. She leads strategy development and execution of McKesson and McKesson Foundation charitable giving and employee community engagement programs across the U.S. and Canada. Through its portfolio of nonprofit partners, the McKesson Foundation supports efforts to reduce the burden of cancer, diversify the healthcare talent pipeline and accelerate emergency preparedness and disaster relief.

Prior to joining McKesson in April 2023, Melissa was Head, Global Corporate Social Responsibility at Alcon, leading the company’s corporate giving strategy, which focused on increasing access to quality eye care for underserved populations. Melissa was also President of the Alcon Foundation and Alcon Cares – Alcon’s philanthropic organizations. Through these entities, Melissa and her team managed partnerships with leading non-profit organizations to help build sustainable eye care systems in medically underserved areas around the world.

Melissa joined Alcon from Covance (now Labcorp Drug Development), where as the Interim Head of Corporate Communications she led overall communications and corporate social responsibility programs. In this role, her responsibilities included internal and crisis communications, as well as public relations and community outreach. Melissa enhanced the social impact of Covance’s Charitable Foundation and increased employee volunteerism by forging relationships with community leaders and NGO partners. During her tenure as Vice President of Corporate Communications for O’Charley’s casual-dining restaurant company, she led overall communications and community relations efforts, including developing the communications strategy for a corporate restructuring and generating record-setting donations of food and supplies to benefit various charities. Earlier in her career, Melissa held communications roles at Interstate Hotels & Resorts, MeriStar Hospitality Corporation, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association.