Macon, GA – Melanie Schild, a non-profit professional from Memphis, has been named Executive Director of Pilot International.
Schild has more than 25 years of experience as chief executive officer, board member, and volunteer for international, national and local not-for-profit organizations. Her expertise includes organizational assessment & development, branding, cause marketing, strategic planning, fund raising and event management. Prior to her hire at Pilot International, Schild owned a consulting business and served for many years as executive director of Kappa Delta Sorority, headquartered in Memphis. In addition to her nonprofit and marketing expertise, she developed and launched two successful initiatives to empower women and girls: International Women’s Friendship Month and International Girls Day. In 2009, she also developed the Confidence Coalition to mobilize the many organizations, companies and individuals that promote self-esteem and confidence among girls and women. Today the coalition includes more than 50 national and regional partners.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and a master’s degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Denver. Schild also attended the Medill Professional Graduate Program in Advertising at Northwestern University, the National Planned Giving Institute at The College of William and Mary, the Fund Raising School at Indiana University, and the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of Colorado.
A member of numerous professional associations, she served as president of the Fraternity Executives Association and the National Panhellenic Conference Executive Directors Association, and, in 2004, she was named by Memphis Woman Magazine as one of “50 Women Who Make a Difference.”
Founded in Macon, Georgia in 1921, Pilot International is a volunteer service organization with approximately 9,000 member volunteers in 400 Pilot community-based clubs. The organization’s service focus is brain health and brain safety. Pilot Clubs in five countries conduct programs and projects that assist those in their communities who are affected by brain-related illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), schizophrenia, depression, autism, and similar.
