Melissa Stapleton Barnes

About Melissa Stapleton Barnes

Melissa Stapleton Barnes serves as President and Founding Chair of the Indiana Center for Business Ethics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to demonstrating and amplifying the value of business ethics for Indiana enterprises and the communities they serve. Previously, from June 2016 to June 2025, she served as an independent director on the board of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corporation, a growing renewable energy and utility company headquartered in Toronto with over $16 billion in assets across North America and internationally. She was formerly Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Management, and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”), a global, research-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with more than employees worldwide. In this role from January 2013 through June 2021, she was an executive officer and served as a member of the company’s executive committee. During her nearly 27-year career with Lilly, she also held a variety of business operations and legal positions, including the role of Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from 2012 to 2013; and General Counsel, Lilly Diabetes and Lilly Oncology from 2010 to 2012. Ms. Barnes is a Licensed Attorney with the Indiana State Bar, serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts, and is a former member of the board of the Ethics Research Center. Ms. Barnes is also Past Chair of the Ethics and Business Integrity Committee for the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations.

Experience

1. President and Founding Board Chair

   Indiana Center For Business Ethics

   Nov 2024 — Present · IN, US

Education

• Purdue University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Political Science and Government

  1986 — 1989

• Harvard Law School

  Juris Doctorate, Law

  1989 — 1992