Melissa Delaney Brings a Veteran Journalist's Eye to Turn Two's Editorial Strategy
July 14, 2026
Turn Two has named Melissa Delaney Senior Editorial Director, adding an award-winning veteran journalist to help clients tell stories that are impossible to ignore.
Delaney worked in newsrooms for more than 30 years, most recently at Forbes, where she managed and edited contributors covering topics ranging from AI’s effects on the workplace and shifts in federal science policies to urgent public health threats.
“Melissa has built and led high-performing editorial teams and consistently delivered compelling storytelling that informs, influences, and moves people to action,” said Turn Two Managing Partner Scott Westcott. “She brings to our team an experienced journalist’s eye and insights that will add real value for our clients.”
At Turn Two, Delaney will lead editorial and creative content across the firm, helping community foundations, nonprofits, and philanthropy-serving organizations bring their stories to life, strengthen their thought leadership, and reach high-priority audiences with powerful messages.
“We’re bombarded with information. It’s hard to stand out and get people’s attention. But that’s what I’ve spent my career doing — connecting with different audiences to tell stories that matter,” Delaney says. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my days than by telling the world about the life-changing work of social good organizations.”
Delaney began her career as a reporter and editor in Boston, where she worked side by side with Turn Two Co-founder and Managing Partner Peter Panepento. After reconnecting and catching up on the past few decades, the old colleagues realized they had unfinished business.
"Peter’s excitement about his work is contagious. I wouldn’t have moved into communications to sell widgets," Delaney says. "It was the mission of Turn Two and the heroic work of its clients that got — and kept — my attention."
Delaney can guide clients in capturing readers’ attention because she’s been doing it for decades. Her approach is to strip away jargon, identify the human stakes, and share the details that make people stop and pay attention: Why should people care? What will they learn?
Before Forbes, she honed those skills as editor-in-chief of Austin Monthly, Austin Monthly Home, and San Antonio Magazine; a feature writer and business editor at Computerworld magazine; and a reporter and editor at Boston daily and weekly newspapers.
Delaney, who earned her master’s in journalism at Northeastern University, also brings experience in coaching and capacity building. She mentors young journalists through Report for America, an organization that places early-career reporters in newsrooms to cover underreported topics. She also spent years teaching journalism at the College of Charleston and mentoring students at the school’s Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication, and she led trainings at Forbes to help contributors report and write better, use AI responsibly in their work, and boost their stories’ SEO.
As she steps into her role at Turn Two, Delaney brings the standard that has guided her throughout her career: respect the audience, find the real story, and make the work impossible to ignore.
