Megan Smith

“I've been working on the lost history of technical women.”

“I have a good eye for great projects, talent, and entrepreneurs.”

“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.”

“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.”

“There are hundreds of historic and current examples of women and minorities doing groundbreaking work in technology, but so many of these stories are not well known, and in some cases, the stories have been all but lost.”

“You've got Americans who are making Amazon and Facebook and Twitter. That level of American needs to run future government.”

“There are several places in Vietnam where they're teaching computer science from second grade in class, so they don't have a gender divide because everybody is expected to program.”

“Thinking through how to make sure we're bringing incredible toys and experiences and that to our girls and our boys at some point is really important for this country for the world in general.”

“If we're the country that makes Amazon and Facebook and Twitter, why can't the federal government have websites and digital services that are awesome?”

“I love to use technology to help people have better lives and to reduce our impact on the planet.”

“Talent is everywhere. Not all talent has access.”