Meghan French
Strategy & External Affairs
Meghan joined the Break Through Tech team in 2019; she oversees the organization’s brand, public affairs, and key aspects of the growth strategy. She’s passionate about strategically driving impact in the ever-evolving education and technology landscape.
Before Break Through Tech, Meghan played a significant role in Cornell Tech’s ascent. Her career there began in 2012 when she assumed a pivotal role on the senior leadership team shortly after Cornell University triumphed in the Bloomberg Administration’s applied sciences competition in New York City. The competition was intended to position New York as the world’s leading capital of technological innovation. As chief lobbyist, she spearheaded negotiations with the City and State of New York, facilitating the execution of the land use agreements for the nearly 1-million-square-foot campus.
She led External Affairs for the campus, overseeing public relations, marketing, digital strategy, and strategic corporate engagement through the campus’ inaugural academic year, 2017-2018.
Before her time at Cornell, she spent several years at Pace University during a period of significant post-9/11 growth, academic restructuring, and master planning across its five campuses. She worked for U.S. Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (NY) and the California State Senate earlier in her career. These invaluable experiences exposed her to public service’s profound impact on equity and quality of life.