Merle McGee is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Everyday Democracy, a capacity-building organization that trains and supports individuals and groups working to build multiracial democracies within their communities. Merle brings over 25 years’ experience in non-profit settings fighting alongside historically marginalized and excluded communities for dignity and racial, gender, and economic justice. Before joining Everyday Democracy in May 2022, Merle served as Chief Equity and Engagement Officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, where she led organizational transformation through community engagement initiatives and by conceiving and implementing Reviving Radical, an initiative to reckon with the organization’s history and build accountable relationships with communities of color.

Prior to her work at Planned Parenthood, Merle served as Chief Program Officer at YWCA of the City of New York and taught non-profit consulting and Race and Identity in Organizations at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.

Merle earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from the New School. Merle currently sits on the America 250 | Connecticut Commission and is on the board of For the People By the People. She is also co-facilitator and leader with the Anti-Racist Alliance. Merle received the inaugural Planned Parenthood Federation A.P.P.L.E Justice award for Reviving Radical and was named City & State’s 50 over Fifty Influential New Yorker in 2021.

Merle hosts the virtual conversation series Doing Democracy. She is a frequent guest at conferences, campuses, community events, and podcasts, where she shares her expertise on civic engagement, multiracial democracy, dialogue, and more.

For bookings, invitations, or to connect with Merle McGee, please contact President@everyday-democracy.org or (860) 727-5927.