Mel Jones is Assistant Vice President of Employee Benefits at HUB International, the 5th largest insurance brokerage in the world, and serves as the 2023 Chapter President of SHRM of Greater St. Louis, the leading organization for human resource professionals in St. Louis. 2009, she was laid off due to the economic downturn, working as an Architectural Associate at a commercial engineering firm. After two weeks of filing for unemployment, her critical drive to succeed and solve complex problems kicked into high gear. That's when she made a career change and took on a new risk —betting on herself and leveraging her desire to help companies bring their strategic visions to life. Since then, she has spent over 14 years of her career partnering with organizations to build cost-conscious strategies that align with their organizational culture and business strategies. By understanding her client's short- and long-term objectives and risk appetite, she can intentionally bring together the resources and experts necessary to achieve their vision of what the future can be for their employees and key stakeholders. Professionally, she's known as a master networker and connector of people and for her servant leadership with her clients and team members. Her natural curiosity, empathy, and desire to help elevate ideas and people have accelerated her personal and professional growth to an Elite level. By leveraging her strengths, she can have a more holistic, authentic, and configurable approach to helping organizations and leaders continue to reach their goals with remarkable outcomes. She supports her clients in Employee Benefits, Total Rewards, and Risk & Insurance. She's also a member of HUB's National Healthcare Specialty Practice. She's a boy mom times two, loves animals and the outdoors. One of her core beliefs in life is that things happen for us, not to us. We all have the choice to change our narrative and create a more resilient life filled with endless growth opportunities.