Anne Meree Craig is a strategic leader and problem solver. She builds powerful networks and programs and flourishes in them while driving impact and creating value. Anne Meree has demonstrated the ability to grow an idea into a thriving enterprise and build multiple lines of revenue for support. She is a connector and swift decision maker who thrives in uncertain environments.
Anne Meree is the Co-Founder and CEO of The COMMIT Foundation, a veteran service organization that ensures exceptional veterans transition into successful careers post-service. Since 2012, she has scaled the start-up into a best-in-class organization that provides thousands of services annually to men and women separating from uniform. Anne Meree raised $12 million for COMMIT which now operates on a $4 million annual budget. In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, she led the team through its most successful year exceeding both programmatic and revenue goals. COMMIT has built various strategic, human resource programs for world-class organizations including Brookings, Guggenheim, a16z, Facebook, Palantir, and Stanford.
Anne Meree attended Wofford College for undergraduate studies and Middlebury College for graduate school. She was working on a doctorate in romance languages when our country was attacked on 9/11. Motivated by her strong sense of mission, Anne Meree moved to Washington, DC and began working at the Department of Homeland Security on Infrastructure Protection and Information Analysis. Shortly after, the White House moved her to the Department of Defense, where her career and ability to make things happen began to manifest. She worked special operations, counterterrorism, and foreign policy across the interagency until 2011. She assisted Donald Rumsfeld and Wayne Downing with the Special Operations Forces assessment, actualized recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, built capacities around covert and clandestine capabilities, helped realize tribal engagements in Iraq, and stood up the Intelligence Community's Executive Committee. Stylistically, Anne Meree was known for bringing truth to conversation, calm to chaos, and sound decision making to principals around the table. In an environment filled with bureaucracy, she was known for simply getting things done.
After leaving government in 2010, Anne Meree founded Maxemi LLC, a consulting business focused on relationship navigation, strategy development, and program support. She also worked as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Berico Technologies, the Chief Administrative Officer at McChrystal Group, and consulted for Deloitte, General Dynamics, as well as other businesses and family offices. Anne Meree has served on multiple boards including Bunker Labs, Promote Leadership, Infragard, and Things We Read. A life-long learner, Anne Meree has completed multiple executive education programs including Stanford Graduate School of Business's Non-Profit Leadership Program. She is a recipient of the National Intelligence Achievement Medal as well as the Medal for Exceptional Public Service from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
In addition to her ongoing leadership of COMMIT, Anne Meree is currently an advisor for Instant Teams, a venture-backed, tech-enabled staffing business. She plans to step away from COMMIT in 2021 and is excited to determine her next challenge.