Meena Dayak is a practice director at McKinley Advisors, where she guides trade and professional associations through strategic transformation and change management initiatives. With a deep expertise in association business models and organizational dynamics, she helps leadership teams navigate member expectations, competitive pressures, and revenue diversification challenges.
At McKinley, Meena has worked with a range of clients, including the Association of Supply Chain Management, the Water Environment Federation and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, to reinvent products, programs and services, consistently driving revenue growth and enhancing stakeholder engagement.
Prior to McKinley, Meena was Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the American Public Power Association and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. During her time at both these trade associations, she led revenue growth initiatives, elevated brand awareness and enhanced reach and engagement through innovative content strategies. She also designed an innovative subscription-based business model for OPEN MINDS, a healthcare consulting and executive education firm.
Meena leverages her experience in healthcare to steer associations through critical changes required to respond to a rapidly evolving landscape, and has been a trusted strategic partner to organizations like the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Academy of Sleep Medicine and American College of Healthcare Executives.
Meena serves as 2025-26 vice-Chair of the ASAE Healthcare Community Advisory Council and sits on the board of Recovery Innovations, a global healthcare provider organization. She holds an M.A. in Public Communications from American University, a certificate in Strategic Frameworks for Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard University, and an Advanced Change Management Leader 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
Cultural Competence for Innovation
How to Keep Your Strategic Planning Nimble and Responsive
Building the Optimal Board and CEO Partnership
