Melinda Pitchford

Chief Strategy Officer

As Chief Strategy Officer, Ms. Pitchford is a recognized strategy and business development leader with a distinguished track record driving multimillion-dollar growth across the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense Health Agency (DHA) sectors. Melinda has earned widespread acclaim for her leadership, strategic vision, and commitment to federal health transformation.

She is a recipient of the 2022 and 2024 FedHealthIT/FORUM Women’s Impact Award, the 2023 and 2024 FORUM Top 100 Award, and a 2024 and 2025 OrangeSlices GovCon Engage Federal Health Honoree. Her forward-thinking approach to capture strategy also earned her the 2025 Top 150 Health IT Award, the 2024 GovTech Ignite Award, and the 2024 Disruptive Acquisition Award.

Melinda is not only a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders across industry and government but also a community builder, having founded and co-hosted – for nearly a decade – the VA Monthly Networking Happy Hour, known for being the largest networking event of its kind in the sector. Melinda also serves on the FORUM Advisory Council, where she helps shape the future of federal health IT strategy.

Through key leadership roles at SAIC, Eleven09, DSS, Elevance Health, and B3 Group, Melinda has led the formation of impactful Joint Ventures (JVs) and mentored multiple SDVOSBs into highly successful VA T4 IDIQ, VA T4NG IDIQ, and federal health IT prime contractors. Her ability to align corporate capability with mission outcomes has made her a go-to expert across VA T4NG IDIQ, VA VECTOR IDIQ, and VA Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) initiatives.