Join us for an engaging Lunch & Learn experience with Goodwill Central Oklahoma! During this event, you’ll enjoy lunch while hearing about Goodwill’s mission to transform lives through the power of work and the vital role they play in our community. Following the conversation, you’ll have the opportunity to go behind the scenes with a guided tour of Goodwill’s facilities. You’ll see firsthand how donated goods fuel programs that provide job training, employment opportunities, and essential resources to individuals across central Oklahoma. This event is a perfect chance to learn more about the impact of Goodwill’s work, connect with other community members, and walk away inspired by the stories of lives changed.

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Time: Check-in opens at 11:30 a.m. Event runs from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. 

Location: Goodwill Central Oklahoma Headquarters, 316 S Blackwelder Ave OKC, OK 73108

Details: Lunch will be provided. Please indicate food allergies and/or dietary restrictions on the registration form. 

Meet Your Speaker:

Melissa Richey, CFRM

Vice President of Marketing and Development

Melissa Richey is a seasoned communications professional with more than 20 years of experience in public relations, media relations, marketing, digital media, crisis communications, advertising, and fundraising. Richey has worked with numerous clients such as home builders, fast food restaurant chains, and high-end retail boutiques. Currently, Melissa is the Vice President of Community Engagement with Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma where she focuses on the nonprofit organization’s fundraising and communications efforts.

Previously, Melissa was the Chief of Communications for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority where she oversaw multiple strategic advertising and media relations campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of Medicaid benefits for more than one million Oklahomans. Melissa’s team navigated the agency’s statewide advertising campaign aimed at 300,000 Oklahomans newly eligible for Medicaid benefits through the passage of SQ 802, Medicaid Expansion Initiative. The campaign earned the team national recognition as a National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award and a case study for other states through a partnership with GMMB.

Prior to her time at OHCA, Melissa held a communications leadership position with The Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital where she oversaw multiple strategic branding, marketing, and public relations campaigns to increase national and local awareness. She led the creative initiative for a statewide branding campaign resulting in more than 350 new donors ($79,716 per month, $956,592 per year), as well as created the branding and managed four fundraising events resulting in $1,118,000 from 2017 to 2019.

Richey is currently a member of the Goodwill Industries International PR and Marketing Affinity Group, member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, as well as Past President for the Oklahoma City Chapter of Public Relations Society of America and the Oklahoma City Chapter of the American Advertising Federation. She has been named by PRSA as the OKC Public Relations Professional of the Year, Member of the Year by OKC AAF, The Journal Record as an Achiever Under 40, The Oklahoman’s 21st Century Influential Women in Healthcare, Oklahoma Magazine’s 40 Under 40, and Core Value Award for Excellence in Leadership by The Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital.

Melissa is married to her husband of 18 years, Kyle Richey. They have one child, Jaxon, and two dogs named Judgie and Chimmie.