Executive Team

Raymond F. Melissa – President, Founder As President and Founder of Melissa Data, Raymond F. Melissa is responsible for leading the firm’s corporate growth strategy and supervising its business and new product development, sales, and marketing efforts. Melissa – a 30-year computer industry veteran – co-founded several tech-oriented firms during the 1970s. Melissa co-founded Eikon, Inc., a line printer company in 1970 and in 1974, he helped launch Irvine, CA-based Printronix Inc., a computer printer manufacturer. In 1978, Melissa co-established Trilog, Inc., one of the first companies to develop a color printer. And in 1985, he founded Melissa Data with a mission in mind – to help mailers save money on postage. Since then, the data quality-focused firm has evolved from a tiny start-up operation to a well respected industry leader. Melissa Data was named a Top 100 Company by DM Review Magazine in 2003. The firm – headquartered in a 30,000 s.f. facility in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – has more than 100 employees. Gary Van Roekel – Vice President of Sales and Marketing Gary Van Roekel oversees the sales and marketing departments at Melissa Data. He brings 30 years of sales and marketing management experience to his executive position. Prior to joining the Melissa Data team in 1998, Van Roekel held executive management positions at Taylor Dunn, Commtek Publishing, and PADI International (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). Phil Maitino – Vice President of Software Development Phil Maitino jump-started his career at Melissa Data as one of the company’s programmers in 1992. He shot up to the top of the executive rankings with his extensive knowledge of the company’s many data quality-centric products and solutions. Maitino is responsible for all software development, including support for its existing products and the creation of new products. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1991. Carol Carter – Vice President of Operations Carol Carter is in charge of the main arterial operations – the heart and soul – of Melissa Data. Carter oversees the shipment of the company’s products and manages the firm’s database production, purchasing, inventory, collections, and order processing departments. Carter holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Humboldt State University. Her previous position at Melissa Data was as the production manager. Carter has worked at Melissa Data for 15 years. Richard Navarro – Vice President of Quality Assurance Richard Navarro brings more than 11 years of technical experience to Melissa Data, where he is responsible for maintaining the quality of all of the company’s products and services. Navarro has extensive training in DOS, Novell, Visual Basic and SQL programming. He started his career at Melissa Data as a technical support specialist. But with his savvy technical expertise and easy-going personality, Navarro quickly rose to the top of the firm’s corporate ladder. He also is a self-proclaimed expert of Postal Bulk Mailing Procedures. John Hull – Vice President of List Services and Technical Support John Griffin Hull joined the Melissa Data team in 1998 and oversees the firm’s list sales/services and technical support departments. His expert knowledge of how to produce mail pieces that qualify for postal discounts has proven to be invaluable to Melissa Data and its clients. He was instrumental in guiding the list services department to reach its sales goals – and even surpass them by 25 percent this year and in 2006. Hull holds a certificate in advanced Visual Basic programming. Prior to working at Melissa Data, Hull launched his own mailing house in 1994. He brings more than 20 years of computer programming and print industry experience to Melissa Data. Jacqueline J. DeWalt – Vice President of Finance and Human Resources Jacqueline J. DeWalt is responsible for the company’s financial and human resources operations. DeWalt has extensive experience in cash management, financial statement preparation and year-end reporting in financial accounting arenas. She has held various accounting positions for a wide-range of industries, including the non profit, healthcare, manufacturing sectors, as well as fast-paced corporate environments. Chris Rowe – Vice President of Data Enhancement Services Chris Rowe oversees the company’s Data Enhancement Services (DES) division. He manages the DES division’s web marketing, contract sales and negotiations, account distribution, hardware and software acquisition, FTP supervision, and new business development. Rowe also leads a team of three DES supervisors. Under his guidance, Rowe’s DES team exceeded their sales goals by 20 percent in 2006. Rowe brings more than 10 years of managerial experience to Melissa Data.