OUR TEAM

We know what a performance platform needs to do.

Merritt is designed based on 10 years of HR consulting across 100+ orgs. We know how existing tools fall short on their promises to make teams more effective. And we know the exact manager behaviors that drive team performance.

Merritt manager dashboard showing the My Team view with feedback to-dos and direct report cards

"Clearly laid out and easy to navigate"

— MERRITT USER

Our founders

Why we're building Merritt.

Amber Madison

Co-Founder / CEO

Hi! I'm Amber. I'm the former Co-Founder of Peoplism, an HR/DEI consulting firm, and I'm a licensed therapist.

I spent the last decade watching performance management wreak havoc on organizations — in terms of fairness, morale and productivity. I also saw how existing SaaS tools perpetuated practices proven to actually lower performance, engagement, and fairness.

I'm building Merritt because I believe performance management is the #1 thing orgs need to get right, and it's time that we actually do.

Darla Shockley

Co-Founder / CTO

Hi! I'm Darla. I'm a software engineer and engineering leader with well over a decade of experience building SaaS products for startups of all sizes in a wide range of industries.

I hold a Master's in AI, and have taught graduate-level AI courses. I've also led teams building LLM-powered products used by thousands, and spent the last few years of my career getting really good at people management.

I'm building Merritt because I'm tired of accepting mediocre-at-best performance management tools. Merritt is the tool I needed as a manager.