Melissa Cantrell, M.B.A., PMP

Ms. Melissa Cantrell, M.B.A., PMP, is a Program Management Specialist at edCount, LLC. Ms. Cantrell oversees the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of large-scale alternate assessments. She is responsible for creating detailed work plans, managing resources, tracking progress, mitigating risks, and driving projects to successful outcomes. Ms. Cantrell has over 30 years of program and project management experience primarily focused on planning, implementing, and delivering large-scale high stakes federal and state contracts in complex matrix environments. Prior to joining edCount, Ms. Cantrell served as Senior Director of Program Management, State and Federal Programs at ACT Inc., where she led a virtual team of high performing program managers in the delivery of large-scale, mission-critical contracts. She engaged with cross-functional leaders to support the development of product strategy and related delivery solutions and provided guidance to program managers and oversight for contract delivery. She also served as the subject matter expert for state and federal contracts and program management processes. As Senior Program Manager at Pearson North America, Ms. Cantrell led a portfolio of complex, multi-location, cross-functional teams with multiple organizational interfaces to successfully plan, implement, and deliver large-scale, high stakes programs. She also managed program profit and loss, including planning, cost analyses, and forecasting.

 Ms. Cantrell received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa and her Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Spanish (Cum Laude with Senior Honors) from Central College in Iowa. In addition, Ms. Cantrell earned her Project Management Professional credential from the Project Management Institute.