Meena Dayak, M.A.

Meena is passionate about helping growth-oriented organizations at the intersection of mission and margin unlock their potential and maximize their impact on communities.

As a practice director at McKinley Advisors, she has partnered with leading trade and professional associations to guide strategic planning, governance evolution, change management, revenue growth, marketing and member engagement initiatives.

With 15 years of trade association leadership, Meena’s career highlights include her roles as Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and at the American Public Power Association. During her time at both organizations, she led revenue growth initiatives and elevated brand awareness while also driving the development of new public education programs and conference innovations. Her work included enhancing member engagement, designing creative partner programs and developing impactful content.

As Executive Vice President of OPEN MINDS, a healthcare market intelligence and management consulting firm, Meena played a pivotal role in designing an innovative subscription-based business model for the firm, identifying new business opportunities for healthcare organization clients, and developing a metrics-driven content marketing strategy. She also excelled in designing and executing virtual and hybrid events tailored to the needs of healthcare executives.

Meena's service as a board member of Recovery Innovations, a global healthcare provider organization, and her volunteer committee leadership roles with local nonprofits in Maryland give her unique insight into how strategy, governance and operations intersect. These roles allow her to bring a fresh, insider perspective to her association work.

Meena holds an M.A. in Public Communications from American University and an Executive Education Certificate in Strategic Frameworks for Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard University. She is an Advanced Change Management Leader with a certification from Kotter.

Outside of her professional life, Meena has a love for fiction, with authors such as Abraham Verghese, Barbara Kingsolver, Elif Shafak, Geraldine Brooks and Jhumpa Lahiri among her favorites. Along with her daughter and husband, she is currently working towards her goal of hiking in every U.S. national park (having completed a quarter so far) and traveling the world. Her favorite destinations include Cappadocia, Cinque Terre, Lisbon, London, New Delhi and Porto.

Read Meena's latest posts on the McKinley Insights Blog