Director of Inclusive Excellence

The Organization:  Merit America

The American economy is broken. Today, 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. These talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time boot camp programs don’t offer enough flexibility, and online courses don’t have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: We start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we support our learners in their job search, helping them connect with a broad constellation of local and national employers such as JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to land higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $24k three months or more after completing the program. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. Since our founding in 2018, we’ve generated a projected $1 billion in near-term wage gains for our learners. 

Role Overview

The primary mission of the Director of Inclusive Excellence is to ensure that Merit America is equitable in how we work and serve learners. You’ll drive our Inclusive Excellence strategy forward by embedding equitable practices for both staff and learners, promoting inclusion, and building systems that make this work everyone’s job.

You’ll partner closely with senior leaders across People, Program, and Executive teams to deepen belonging, reduce gaps in the learner and staff experience, and ensure our workforce is responsive to the dynamic needs of our vibrant learner community. You’ll also empower the organization in our own Inclusive Excellence work, including through leading groups like the Inclusive Excellence Council and affinity groups, and also in fostering a culture of shared accountability for making Merit America a place where all learners and teammates can thrive.

The Director of Inclusive Excellence is an exempt role. They will report to the Vice President of People, and hire and manage one direct report.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Director of Inclusive Excellence will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategic Leadership

• Drive the Inclusive Excellence strategy and embed it as foundational to achieving our mission
• Translate strategic priorities and data-based opportunities into clear goals and operational plans that support both culture and business outcomes
• Build accountability mechanisms through regular data reviews and organizational visibility
• Lead one full-time employee and a couple consultants

Cross-Org Collaboration & Influence

• Partner with senior leaders to embed equity into team strategies and OKRs
• Elevate the role of the Inclusive Excellence Council and Affinity Groups as strategic advisors
• Advise the executive team on relevant business risks and opportunities, helping navigate complex change moments

Staff Experience & Culture Building

• Design and run initiatives that improve the experience, engagement, and advancement of staff, especially where the data shows there are existing gaps
• Ensure policies, programs, and organizational design support individuals with intersecting visible and non-visible identities
• Build systems for inclusive feedback loops and equip managers with tools to lead equitably and effectively

Learner Experience & Program Equity

• Partner with Program leadership to ensure the learner journey is equitable — from design to delivery to evaluation
• Use data to identify disparities across learner outcomes and shape targeted improvements
• Turn insights into program improvements that lift learner success and strengthen our business model.

Skills and Competencies

We recognize that individuals from marginalized backgrounds, including women, people of color, and those with disabilities, are often less likely to apply when they don’t meet 100% of the job qualifications. Don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We want to emphasize that your unique skills, experiences, and perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of the skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:

Must Haves for the Role: 

• Equity Expertise in Business Settings: You have applied an intersectional equity lens to core strategy—shaping policies, programs, or learner products—and shown measurable impact on psychological safety, engagement, revenue, and outcomes.
• Change Management: You have embraced rapid, difficult organizational changes due to both internal and societal friction around this work. You also have coached senior leaders through difficult challenges, crafted inclusive comms, and led culture or policy shifts that permanently embedded inclusion into day-to-day operations.
• Project & Program Management: You have planned and launched broad-reaching initiatives end-to-end, coordinating cross-functional teams and building community buy-in that led to clear gains in engagement or belonging.
• Data Analysis & Impact Measurement: You have built equity dashboards, run descriptive-to-predictive analyses, and turned those insights into targeted actions that closed identity-based gaps or improved mission-critical metrics.
• Training & Development: You have created and facilitated learning experiences, then successfully implemented them to create lasting cultural change.

Must Haves for Everyone at Merit America:

• Committed to Merit America’s mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers.
• Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture.
• Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together.
• Committed to continuous learning and growth in understanding and addressing issues of equity.
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity.

Nice to Haves:

• You have transformed inclusion skepticism into daily practice and measurable confidence in the organization.
• You have narrowed engagement gaps for staff through targeted interventions.
• You have embedded inclusion work into external-facing products or programs, leading to reduced outcome gaps for diverse communities served.
• You have leveraged people analytics, other advanced analytics, or AI tools to understand and forecast equity impacts, and redirected strategy based on those insights.
• You have partnered with leaders and external stakeholders to position inclusion as a strategic differentiator, elevating brand credibility and opening new doors to learners, funders, or partners.

Other Logistics 

• This position is full-time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Location: Remote
• Salary: $144,000
• Application Deadline: Sunday, August 17th, 2025

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits (please note that some of the benefits do not apply to temporary employees): 

• 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
• Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
• Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
• Education & personal development reimbursement
• Catalog of courses for professional learning and development
• Short and long-term disability
• Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
• Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
• 11 federally recognized holidays
• 1 week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
• 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
• 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
• Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
• Discount perks at work program
• Phone/technology stipend
• Home office setup stipend
• Affinity groups and community building via virtual, in-person, and/or regional meetups
  

*Eligibility for some benefits may vary based on employment status, full-time or part-time. Eligibility will be outlined during the hiring process.

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

Still excited about our work?  You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.

Fair Chance Ordinance

Applicants who have arrest or conviction records and are in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will be considered in accordance with the state’s fair chance ordinance law. Employment under the ordinance includes part-time work, seasonal work, contract work, contingent work, work on commission, and work through the services of a temporary or employment agency.

E-Verify Statement

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.