Rebecca Taber Staehelin
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Rebecca Taber Staehelin is the co-founder & co-CEO of Merit America, a nonprofit that prepares low-income Americans for upwardly-mobile careers at scale, and has been named one of the fastest-growing and most innovative nonprofits in the country.
Rebecca has spent the past decade working on education and workforce development across the public, private and social sectors. Prior to co-founding Merit America, Rebecca built and led Coursera’s Government & Nonprofit team, reaching tens of thousands of learners. Previously, Rebecca was Education Advisor to Governor Markell (Delaware), Chief Performance Officer at the Delaware Department of Education, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Rebecca received her BA in political science from Yale University and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University. She serves on the board of Rooted School Foundation and on the Maryland Higher Education Commission, to which she was appointed by Governor Wes Moore. She lives in Maryland with her husband and son, a pandemic-born ball of energy who enjoys Paw Patrol, Cocoa Puffs, and frequent Zoom-bombing.
Relevant Media
WSJ: Job Prospects for Black Workers Have Never Been Better—In Ways That Might Last
NYTimes: Google Creates $100 Million Fund for Skills Training Program
Fast Company: 10 Most Innovative Small Companies 2022
Podcast: Pathway to the Middle Class (Happy at Work)
Merit America’s partners include Google, Amazon, and JPMorgan Chase. Funders include Blue Meridian Partners, Charles Koch Foundation, and Schmidt Futures. Their 2023 impact report can be found here.
