Director of Development - Meritus College

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. 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.

The Organization: Meritus College

Meritus College is a new kind of not-for-profit online college, built from the ground up to meet the needs of working adults and career-changers who’ve been overlooked by traditional higher education.

The problem is clear: only 33% of Pell grant recipients complete their degrees at two-year colleges within 6 years. College has become too rigid, too expensive, and too disconnected from both student realities and career outcomes. Merit College is different. Our online, asynchronous programs and "workplace as laboratory" approach allow students to learn and apply new skills directly to their jobs, while receiving personalized support from dedicated coaches every step of the way. We focus on real-world skills and stackable credentials in high-demand fields, ensuring graduates are prepared for today's jobs and tomorrow's opportunities. Founded in 2025 with an inaugural Associate of Applied Science in Technology and Innovation degree, Merit College is building a mainstream pathway to economic mobility—one designed not for the privileged few, but for the talented many who’ve too often been left behind.
About the Role

Meritus College doesn't have a century of alumni wealth to call on. What it has is a bold, evidence-backed model, a founding team with credibility in both higher ed and philanthropy, and an open field for building a modern fundraising function that looks more like an early-stage nonprofit startup than a traditional university advancement office.

We're looking for a Director of Development to join this founding team and help build that function. This is a hybrid role: part traditional higher-ed philanthropy (institutional funders and individual donors who care about post-secondary access and attainment), part startup-style fundraising (moving fast, building processes as you go, wearing multiple hats, working with founders, and engaging funders in the mission first - not the endowment).
A successful candidate will:

- Manage and expand a portfolio of mission-aligned 6- and 7-figure foundation, corporate, and individual funders who care about economic mobility and the future of higher education.

- Translate Meritus College's early outcomes data and founding story (which includes Merit America ’s success to date) into compelling, fundable narratives.

- Move comfortably between the discipline of traditional higher-ed philanthropy (stewardship, reporting, gift agreements) and the speed and resourcefulness of an early-stage startup.