Melissa Centers is a board member, business consultant, and attorney who provides integrated strategic advice and support to boards of directors, founders, and companies of all sizes. Before entering private practice, Melissa was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at State Auto Insurance, a $2 billion publicly traded insurance company. Melissa was also the legal advisor and served on the board of directors for a $25 million insurtech-focused venture capital fund. In addition, she has held executive leadership and consulting roles in IT, operations, communications, crisis PR, marketing, human resources, and government affairs for companies like Chase, Verizon, Nationwide Insurance, and several other Fortune 500 organizations.

When not helping clients with their most complex challenges, Melissa is a college professor at the University of Tennessee, where she teaches courses including business law, ethics and white collar crime, business management, and a masters level course in employment and management law. She is a "Startup Coach" for the Anderson Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (UT, Haslam College of Business), a Leadership Coach for the Professional MBA program at UT, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. She is also a "newly" avid gardener and analog activity enthusiast (vinyl, books with pages, and more). Most importantly, she is a devoted cat mom.