Megan is an entrepreneur, tech evangelist, engineer, social change agent and connector. She recently joined Google’s advanced products team, Google[x], where she is working on range of projects including co-creating/hosting SolveForX, a forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and collaboration (http://www.wesolveforx.com/). For nine years before that she oversaw Google’s New Business Development team managing early-stage partnerships, pilot explorations, and technology licensing working closely with Google’s engineering and product teams globally across all product areas. She led many of the company’s early acquisitions, including Keyhole (Google Earth), Where2Tech (Google Maps) and Picasa. Megan also led the Google.org team transition to expand into engineering based projects including Google Crisis Response, GoogleforNonprofits, Earth Outreach/Engine and increased employee engagement.
Prior to joining Google in 2003, Megan was CEO and, earlier, COO of PlanetOut, the leading LGBT online community, where the team broke through many barriers and partnered closely with AOL, Yahoo!, MSN and other major web players. She also held roles at General Magic and Apple Japan. Over the years, Megan has contributed to a wide range of engineering projects, including an award-winning bicycle lock, space station construction program, solar cookstoves and was a member of the MIT student team who designed, built and raced a solar car 2000 miles across the Australian outback. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT, where she now serves on the board. She completed her master’s thesis work at the MIT Media Lab.
