Megan Smith
Megan Smith
Megan J. Smith is the Chief Technology Officer of the United States. She was previously a vice president of Google at Google, was vice president of business development at Google for nine years, and was general manager of Google.org and the former CEO of Planet Out. She serves on the boards of MIT and Vital Voices, is a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Aid and co-founded the Malala Fund. On September 4, 2014, she was named as...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
CountryUnited States of America
women
There are 2 to 3 million women programmers in the world. We need to see them more.
best familiar gets less
We know that diversity can sometimes be more uncomfortable because things are less familiar - but it gets the best results.
close gotten though
We've never won, even though we've gotten so close before.
solve
It's very difficult to solve a lot of problems from the top down.
door early easier expensive exploring fail industry less money pilot spent structured
It's much easier to fail when you're in the pilot, early stage, when it's less expensive and you're exploring than when you're way out the door and you've spent all this money. Industry is smart: structured to have skunkworks and pilot phases.
buy figure kid knowing obsessed
It's so interesting that when somebody's pregnant, we are obsessed with knowing the gender of the child so we can figure out what we need to buy that child, what the present would be. Like we're pre-programming the kid before they were born.
across affection faces fun goes gratitude public watch
It's always fun just to watch the combination of humiliation and gratitude and affection that goes across people's faces when they are addressed in public in such a manner.
incredibly preserve
It's an incredibly important thing to make sure we preserve net neutrality.
easier hear
It's easier not to hear it from Mom.
cool girl guy interested serious sonnet vehicle
It was a serious sonnet to a girl and the guy was actually interested in her and hadn't told her yet. It was kind of cool to be the vehicle of that expression.
ride
I want to ride again. Let me ride one more time,
history infinite takes ways
Take everything you know. Take your whole selves. Be inclusive. Be open. Make history in the infinite ways that your heart takes you.
Talent is everywhere. Not all talent has access.
projects
We very much use a prototyping model, play with ideas, and then get stuff started that way, which is how the greatest projects get started.