Piedmont Hills HS, Class of 2000
Executive Director, Northern California College Promise Coalition

Meredith “Mer” Curry Nuñez is a long-time social justice advocate working at the intersection of operations, college access, and workforce development. She has worked for local and state nonprofits since 2000, is a product of all three of California’s public higher education institutions, and is passionate about advancing systems change, education equity, and economic mobility. She joined the Northern California College Promise Coalition (NCCPC) in 2020. As the Executive Director, Mer works in partnership with organizations and leaders that are members of NCCPC, and those around the state, for collective impact to increase outcomes for multiply-marginalized under-represented (MMU) students in college access, success, and career launch.

Previously, Mer was the founding Director of Operations for the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) which manages CaliforniaColleges.edu, the State’s official college and career planning platform and an integral part of the CA Cradle to Career (C2C) Data System. As the first Director of Education Partnerships, Mer was also instrumental in the design and launch of Moneythink's free college affordability tool DecidED which is used nationally.

Mer graduated from Piedmont Hills High School in San José. A first-generation college graduate, she earned a B.A. from UC Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. from Cal State Long Beach. Mer is an appointed Cradle to Career Community Engagement Advisory Board Member, the inaugural Board Chair of LEAD Filipino, and a prior Chair and Commissioner for the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. Mer received Global Tassel’s 2023 Global Community Innovator Award. In addition, Mer was a 2021 Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40 Honoree and was recognized by the Eudaimonia Society at the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative as a 2020 honoree.