Melanie Deziel is the founder and Chief Content Officer of StoryFuel, and the author of the best selling marketing and business communications book “The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story ideas.” She is an international keynote speaker, skilled virtual presenter, and is recognized as one of the world's leading experts in native advertising and branded content.

As a speaker, she's taught marketers around the globe to brainstorm better, think like journalists and tell better brand stories. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, and has graced the stages of industry-leading events like Content Marketing World, Native Ad Days, Social Media Marketing World, Inbound, SXSW, and more.

Melanie is also an experienced online educator, having done countless webinars and digital keynotes. She has studied digital learning methodologies for adults as part of the process to develop and teach a Master's-level online course in content marketing for Fairleigh Dickinson University, and also teaches a course for CCNY that she developed based on her book. She has also taught multiple courses online in digital marketing and social media for Syracuse University's online M.A. in Communications.

Melanie was the first editor of branded content at The New York Times, where she wrote the native ads that won the Best Native Advertising Execution OMMA Award in both 2014 and 2015.

She serves on the board of the Native Advertising Institute, and has judged countless industry awards, including the Content Marketing Institute Awards, Digiday Content Marketing Awards, the Native Ad Awards, the WANIFRA Digital Media Awards and the Mirror Awards.

Prior to founding StoryFuel's predecessor, Mdeziel Media, Melanie worked full time doing content strategy, business development and branded content creation for The New York Times’s T Brand Studio, helped found HuffPost Partner Studio, and served as the Director of Creative Strategy for Time Inc’s portfolio of 35+ media properties. She also served as an Expert in Residence at Gary Vaynerchuk’s BRaVe Ventures, where she provided native advertising and content strategy insights, training and information to BRaVe's portfolio companies and advisory clients, including Viacom, Turner, Discovery Communications, Oprah Winfrey Network and more. Melanie has also served as a startup advisor to a variety of media, marketing, and tech companies. .

Melanie has an undergraduate degree in journalism from UConn, where she focused on investigative reporting and worked as the Editor in Chief of the Daily Campus newspaper. She received her M.A. in Arts Journalism from Syracuse, where she was the Executive Producer of the award-winning Newshouse.com, and was one of just 50 alums honored at the Newhouse School's 50th Anniversary Gala in 2015. She interned with Rolling Stone as a student, has been recognized with multiple industry awards, and is a proud member of the New York City Chapter of the National Speakers Association.

Melanie is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Yasin Abbak (the CEO of The Fantasy Life App) and her daughter. When she's not traveling to speak at conferences or give workshops for clients, she can be found searching for a great cup of decaf coffee and scouting Instagram-worthy tile floors.

Media Professionals, Journalism, Investigative Journalism, Award-Winning Journalism Writers, Blogging, Writer and editor, Content, Content Management, Advertising, Marketing, Creative Advertising, Authors,