Megan Garcia was senior fellow and director of growth for New America Local. She explored how the work of New America’s programs link to exciting local approaches to problem solving taking place in cities around the country. She was director of New America CA and founder of the New America CA Fellowship. She is an expert on artificial intelligence and ethics, cybersecurity, and innovation. She was based in Phoenix, where highlighted local public problem solvers who are making the region more livable, resilient, and equitable.
Previously, Garcia was a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she oversaw the creation of the foundation’s Cyber Initiative, designed to help generate a field of cybersecurity and internet policy experts more focused on the public good. She also oversaw Hewlett’s Nuclear Security initiative, a portfolio of grants with the goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world. Garcia has been military legislative assistant to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a policy fellow for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) during his time in the House of Representatives, a consultant to USAID’s Office of Military Affairs, and has worked for Public Citizen California.
Garcia holds a master’s in public policy with a focus on national security from the University of California at Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in American history and literature from Harvard University.