About Me

I am a seasoned people leader, employment lawyer, and consultant committed to helping organizations build, strengthen and scale workplaces that center on the experience of the people/employees that make it all possible. My approach is informed by my diverse and colorful lived experiences, ranging from community leadership roles in my youth to surviving the Socratic Method in law school; from learning about the true power of partnership with union leadership at Kaiser Permanente, to my recent stints as a people leader inside of high-growth, innovative and disruptive tech start-ups. I’m also a proud mama to three young children, right at home driving a minivan carpool and cheering them all on from the bleachers.

Full Bio Below

Career Highlights

  • Strategic people and operations executive in both high-tech and healthcare sectors

  • Labor & Employment lawyer

  • Co-leader of two acquisitions: GitHub, by Microsoft in 2018 & Abstract Notebooks, by Adobe Creative Cloud in 2021

  • Remote and distributed work thought leader and evangelist

  • Redefined culture and scaled teams in both fully distributed and hybrid work environments

  • Passionate DEI advocate, strategist, and sponsor

  • Committed facilitator of strong organizational relationships between management and employees

  • Seasoned internal investigator

  • Developed the employee experience function and strategy as well as the Office of the Employee Advocate @ GitHub

  • Mama of 3 amazing kids

  • Former Board member at Worldwide ERC (2018-2021)

Merritt Quisumbing Anderson

People and Culture Leader | Employment Lawyer

 

Merritt Quisumbing Anderson (she/her) is an experienced people leader and employment lawyer who advises high-growth startups on building strong People organizations and developing and defining company culture. She is passionate about utilizing her background in employment law and human resources to increase organizational performance and employee engagement.

She has successfully co-led the acquisition of GitHub by Microsoft in 2018 and the acquisition of Abstract Notebooks by Adobe in 2021. Passionate about creating and sustaining inclusive workplaces with the employee experience at the center, Merritt is a firm believer in distributed work and developing trust through open and transparent communication. Through her consultancy, Merritt+ Consulting, Merritt brings years of experience scaling global organizations to many of Silicon Valley’s fastest-growing startups. Her areas of expertise include implementing equity and inclusion strategies, developing talent management programs, and building global workplace operations that bring distributed workforces together.

Merritt holds a BS in Political Science from Santa Clara University and a JD from the University of San Francisco. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband, three children, and their dog, Scout.