Melissa Simona Raso (nee Vigano) MBA ’96
Melissa graduated with a BS, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University,
where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and an MBA, Beta
Gamma Sigma, from Columbia Business School.
Before earning her MBA, Melissa leveraged her knowledge and
fluency in several European cultures and languages for 3 years as an
international marketing manager for the Plaza Hotel in New York.
While earning her Columbia MBA, Melissa Raso began her
career at American Express. During her 7
years there, she worked across key
business areas such as Consumer Card Services Group Acquisition, Customer
Focused Sales (CFS) and Membership Consulting Services (MCS). Among
other accomplishments, Melissa helped grow American Express’ business by leading
a team that transformed the MCS business into a retention capability that
preserved over 400,000 cardmember relationships annually as well as by growing
the CFS business to increase sales 81% year over year with high customer
satisfaction levels by improving the product portfolio mix and facilitating a transition of the call centers
from a “service” to a “sales and service” culture.
Melissa has been a Trustee of All Souls School in New York
City since 2007, serving as Secretary of the Board since joining as a Trustee. She was part of the Search Committee when the
founding Director retired after 27 years.
In addition, she served as President of the Parents Association for 2
years and supported the Parents Association in many chair roles including as benefit
chair.
Melissa is an Admissions Associate at the Brearley School, which
her two children attend, in New York City and is actively involved in the
Parents Association.