Megan Steckly, 38
CEO, Compudopt

Hometown: Littleton, Colorado
College: University of Queensland

When Megan Steckly joined Compudopt, a nonprofit that provides technology and education to underserved families in Houston, the organization had $11,000 in the bank and a scrappy team of three on an operating budget of $230,000. Since taking the top leadership role, Steckly has grown the organization to be 100 times larger.

By listening to community members and program participants, Compudopt identified opportunities to diversify its service offering in line with the needs of the families it served. This gave rise to a larger portfolio of hands-on, high-quality technology enrichment programming. From 2016-2019, the organization increased its service from 700 to 3,500 households annually, extended its programs to 70 neighborhood locations and increased its operating budget to $2.1 million.

Steckly’s real challenge, however, came at the onset of the pandemic. In the fall of 2019, Compudopt planned for a national expansion. When the pandemic hit and the world went on lockdown, the organization was well positioned to meet the demand for computers and devices. More than 70,000 Houstonians registered in the first week of lockdown for its computer lottery. Since then, the organization has increased its capacity to serve, operating with 70 staff members, impacting to more than 65,000 individuals a year and growing, on a $36 million budget. Its success here has allowed it to expand to 26 other cities.