Choreographing Change: Degan Mercado Leopold ’03

“Dance is about storytelling, and so is diversity, equity, and inclusion work,” says Degan Mercado Leopold ’03. “They both start with the anecdotes you share about yourself.”

As a Puerto Rican student who’d previously been enrolled in predominantly white schools, Degan was drawn to Wesleyan’s commitment to diversity. “The more I looked at other schools, the more Wes stood out,” she says. She double-majored in Spanish and dance, led the Precision Dance Company—“I arrived to campus a dancer, but learned I was a stronger choreographer”—and found her place in a community she describes as a “melting pot of awesome fringe-ness.” Ultimately, however, her experience at Wesleyan boiled down to a question: How can I contribute to the world?

Within days of arriving on campus, she began volunteering at the maximum-security Long Lane Juvenile Detention Center, an endeavor that continued throughout her four years in Middletown. Working with young people at Long Lane furthered a sense that what distinguished Degan’s experiences from theirs was merely chance and circumstance—“we bonded over our shared identities, and that was empowering”—and this formed the foundation for her future work in public service and philanthropy.

During more than a decade at Bloomberg L.P., Degan launched the firm’s diversity recruiting initiatives, helping Bloomberg become an early DEI proponent and connecting individuals from underrepresented groups with private-sector careers. Along with serving in Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office and becoming Chief of Staff for the National Constituencies and Coalitions team on the Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign, Degan sits on nonprofit and civic advisory boards, always advocating to expand opportunities for communities of color.

When it comes to her professional trajectory, Degan says, “I’ve always designed my next career move, and I get that is a privilege. But what Wes—and dance—taught me is that you cultivate and curate your own opportunities by aligning your skills, interests, and values through a professional lens. You see the need, you build the case for meeting that need, then you act.”

Today, as Chief Partnerships Officer at the New York Jobs CEO Council, Degan is helping the organization accelerate economic mobility with a goal to hire 100,000 low-income New Yorkers into high potential jobs by 2030. In leading public-private partnerships that bridge gaps between business and education, she’s committed to increasing equitable access for all, channeling her Wesleyan experience into a career built on passion and purpose. As Degan says, “I hope to make a meaningful impact, one step at a time.”