Megan credits the features in Google Maps and the incredible community of Local Guides to feeling more protected and connected. Megan's actively opened up several dialogues with fellow Local Guides around the world to foster a multicultural lens that supports Black-owned businesses and Women-led organizations.

Megan has also been influential as a creator of the #StateChallenge which inspired many Local Guides to share amazing posts about various U.S. states and other places worldwide. Whether providing engaging dialogue or sharing photos, Megan goes the extra mile to make Google Maps more personal, and more inspired.

What is your favorite place, experience, photo or video you contributed to Google Maps this year?
My favorite contributions to Google Maps over the past year have been to women's shelters, children's advocacy centers and domestic violence organizations. These types of locations frequently struggle with inaccurate information and lack of contributions. However, these places are the unsung heroes of our communities, saving lives by protecting and shaping the futures of their patrons towards safety and a life of abundance.

What advice do you have for other Local Guides?
My favorite advice to give to any Local Guide is to make sure they understand how very much their contributions matter. For Local Guides, contributions are simply part of our routine - updating hours, or a map marker, leaving a review or posting a photo - for others, those pieces of information shape lives, decisions, and outcomes.

What do you like most about the Local Guides community?
What I like most about the Local Guides community is that we are a global family, interconnected by our experiences and our passions, intersecting because of our geography. In my own life, my Local Guide family came to know me better than many of my local friends, because they got to know me through my experiences and interpretations of the world. The Local Guides community has taught me to develop a multicultural lens which helps me carry my own experiences in tandem with my empathy and understanding for the experiences of others.

What makes a place or experience worth rating/reviewing?
I see ratings and reviews as falling under two categories - exceptional experiences and essential information. The more exciting an experience is, the more motivated I am to document it so that others can learn from it.

Essential information is my primary reason for rating and reviewing locations - the most important information on Google Maps is the least flashy - hours, accessibility information, objective facts which we take for granted when we are experiencing something with our own senses. I believe these are the contributions which make the world the most accessible, and these are the contributions by which we live our daily lives.

What is your favorite feature of Google Maps?
My favorite feature of Maps is accessibility. Google Maps is accessible across all languages, cultural barriers, economic and social resources. On Google Maps, everyone is equal. There is nothing to unlock - only a world to explore. We all have access to the same information, and are left to make our own judgements based on our own best assessments.

Want to learn more about this incredible Local Guide? Check out their contributions on Google Maps and follow them on Connect.