Richard Thomas

I’m a high impact Career Coach and former Merit America practitioner with a documented track record of driving elite learner outcomes. I’ve scaled placement success rates from thirty percent to eighty percent through data driven interventions, staying deeply aligned with the mission to break the poverty cycle and drive upward social mobility.

In my current role as an Alumni Career Coach, I direct a rolling caseload of over one hundred and forty learners while maintaining elite retention rates through psychological safety and accountability. I use the MMA Dashboard to monitor learner health scores in real time, proactively identifying at-risk individuals with engagement metrics and executing targeted re-engagement campaigns to protect retention. I also facilitate Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) and large scale workshops on job search strategy, networking, and interview preparation, backed by thousands of one-on-one coaching sessions that optimize professional branding and mock interview performance.

Before that, I supported talent and teams in operational and leadership roles—cultivating continuous learning and professional growth as an Operations & Training Manager, and rebuilding the Career Services department as Director of Career Services and Placement Strategy. I designed new hire orientation and talent integration strategies that accelerated time to productivity and reduced early stage turnover by fifteen percent, then transformed a transactional placement office into a holistic development hub, increasing successful graduate hires by fifty percent within one year.

I bring immediate operational readiness with zero ramp up time on core systems including Salesforce, Canvas, and Google Workspace. I’m a subject matter expert in navigating the emotional and technical journey of the modern job seeker, and I’m specifically seeking a four day weekend and evening schedule to deliver elite coaching during the most critical availability windows for adult learners.