Our Leadership Team

Michael Sandler is a veteran communications executive and media strategist with nearly three decades of experience in higher education, media and business. 

Prior to founding EM3 Communications, he served as Vice President for Communications at George Mason University and the University of Colorado System. In those roles, he supported five university presidents and two complex governing boards, one made up of elected officials and the other representatives appointed by the governor. 

Prior to his work in higher education, Michael spent two decades working as a reporter and editor at The Associated Press, The Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Tampa Bay Times, The Hill and Congressional Quarterly.  He covered the U.S. Senate, interviewed two U.S. Presidents and led the AP's coverage of the recovery from the Great Recession.

Michael has experience managing multi-million-dollar campaigns, leading staffs of more than 50 people and directing cross-functional teams across complex organizations. He is a crises mitigation expert with experience working with executive teams, elected officials and governing boards.

He has also served on the executive committee for the Council of Strategic Communications at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), is a graduate of Cornell University and the Columbia School of Journalism and spent two years serving in the U.S. Peace Corps as a small business development volunteer in Bolivia.

In his spare time, he can be found coaching or cheering on his son and daughter on the basketball court, or the baseball, soccer, and football fields.  

Melia Sandler is an experienced multi-media storyteller and strategist with two decades of experience in healthcare, law enforcement, education and business. She is equally comfortable behind a camera or at a computer, having worked as a writer, photographer, editor and communications director.

The daughter of a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, she is adept at navigating in non-traditional spaces, identifying overlooked opportunities and vulnerabilities, and building consensus around key messages among diverse groups.

Melia has led communications at the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) as they dealt with pandemic issues and emerging health technologies, TeamResults USA during a time of expansion, and The Officer Down Memorial Page during unprecedented Covid-related losses.

She also owns and operates her own photography business, www.meliasandler.com, specializing in family portraits, corporate events and sports photography.

Melia started her career as a reporter at the Orlando Sentinel, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Tampa Bay Times. As a journalist, she always looks to tell the untold, unconventional story: examining low diversity and representation at U.S. National Parks, chronicling open-heart surgery on a unconventional patient from the operating room, or sharing the evolution of sleepy southern communities into busy business corridors. 

When she is not working, she can be found photographing her children at basketball, baseball, soccer and football.