Biography of Megan Smith as a leader in all parts of life, written by Wharton MBA student for a course on leadership from the point of view of the whole person.

1. Megan
Smith
Leadership
Biography
by Melissa Rondi

2. 2
Who is Megan Smith?
Early Life/Education
Grew up in Buffalo, NY
Spent many summers at
the Chautauqua Institution
Received BS and MS in
Mechanical Engineering
from MIT
Career
Began career in startups –
Apple and General Magic
CEO of Planet Out during
acquisition of Gay.com
Senior exec at Google,
Google[x], and google.org
Community
STEM education advocate
Serves on the board of MIT
Media Lab, Vital Voices & +
Works on engineering
projects on the side
Family/Self
Separated
from re/code technology
columnist Kara Swisher
Mother of two 11 and 14-
year-old boys
Enjoys biking & traveling

3.  3rd and 1st female Chief Technology Officer of the
United States
 Co-founded The Malala Fund, an organization
dedicated to impacting girls education and
empowerment around the world
 Pioneered Google's "Women Techmakers" diversity
initiative
 CEO of Planet Out during the merger with Gay.com
 Participated on the MIT student team that “designed,
built and raced a solar car 2000 miles across
the Australian outback in the first cross-continental
solar car race”
3
Megan’s Major Accomplishments

4.  As US CTO, Megan led the team that advised President Obama
on many tech topics such as patent reform, privacy issues, and
net neutrality
 Also worked on regulatory reform to enable entrepreneurs with
good ideas to advance those ideas more quickly
4
Service Through Innovation & Technology
“I actually think that working
in the federal government, or
state or local, is one of the
most significant things that a
technical person can do. It’s
real service, and you can
affect hundreds of millions of
people.”

5.  Working to change math and science curriculum in order to
encourage all children to pursue careers in STEM
 Leading an initiative called TechHire to increase the number of
women and people of color who have jobs in tech by working with
community colleges
 Openly out and speaks up about the hatred of gays, specifically
religiously based hatred
 Visible example of a successful woman in tech
5
Be Who You Are To Effect Change
“When you’re gay, you come
out of everyday because
everyone assumes you’re
straight but you have to be
your whole self. You just do
cuz it will kill you not to”

6.  Look for companies and organizations that are
truly a meritocracy
 Seek mentors and sponsors who are
passionate about helping other women in tech
 “Start with impact and then get to the math”
 Think about career in the long run – difficult to
know exactly what types of opportunities will
present themselves (e.g. US CTO) in the
future but can gain the skills and experiences
now to be ready for them when they surface
 Be open about who you are and look for four-
way wins
6
Takeaways and Future Applications