Merit America 2025 Impact Report

Letter from the Co-CEOs

This is a defining moment for the American Dream.

Economic uncertainty persists. Costs remain high. Artificial intelligence is transforming how work is done and how quickly skills must evolve. Across the country, many working Americans are asking: Is it still possible for me to get ahead?

Here’s what we know: it is.

Since 2018, more than 20,000 learners have turned to Merit America to build new careers, driving estimated cumulative wage gains of $1.4 billion and counting.

Alicia’s story is proof of what’s possible. It is also a reminder of how much has to go right for that possibility to become real.

The challenge facing working Americans is not a lack of ambition—people continue to work hard and aspire to more. The challenge is structural. As technology reshapes industries, routes to stability are shifting and traditional pathways to mobility are no longer sure bets. Credentials that once opened doors are losing their hold. Jobs that once offered reliable footholds are changing faster than the institutions designed to prepare people for them.

Change is accelerating, but opportunity has not kept pace.

And yet, we are not pessimistic—because we have seen what becomes possible when the right supports are in place. When training is practical and flexible, when the path between learning and earning is clear, and when workers are met where they are, people move forward. We have seen it happen thousands of times.

That is what Merit America was built to do. And in a moment like this, that mission has never mattered more.

AI will not slow down. Economic pressure will not ease on its own. The question is not whether the world of work will keep changing—it will. The question is whether those with the most to gain from that change will have access to the tools they need to navigate it.

They can and they must. And organizations willing to build for this moment have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference.

This report reflects that belief in action. We are grateful to the learners, partners, supporters, and teammates building this future with us. Our responsibility, and our commitment, is to ensure that for every American asking whether it’s still possible to get ahead, the answer remains yes.