Melissa Charbonneau graduated from the University of Mississippi in the 1980s and will share her experiences working with the people of Afghanistan for three years as communications advisor to the Afghan Women's Project and for a NATO-led security mission. Before that, Charbonneau worked in print and broadcast journalism as a White House Correspondent and served as speakers chair for the National Press Club for 18 years. Since Afghanistan, she has worked as director of Issues and Crisis Management for FedEx in Memphis and as director of Corporate Reputation and Crisis Communications for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines in Miami.