ABOUT MEKA
Raised in economically-challenged South Memphis in the 80’s by his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Meka Egwuekwe, then ten-years-old, asked his mother for a “miracle.” He had seen a Texas Instruments home computer advertised on television, and was immediately taken by the technology and the worlds technology could open. Somehow, despite the family’s financial struggles, Meka’s mother got her son what he wanted most. Meka played games on his computer for six months, taught himself BASIC programming, and was tickled to make his name crawl across the screen with his new programming chops. Ever since, Meka has been hooked on technology and computer science.
Meka attended East High School in Memphis, where he was offered semester-long coding classes. At East, Meka watched a presentation from Massachusetts-based Phillips Academy Andover, the oldest incorporated secondary school in the United States, and considered by many to be the most elite boarding school in America. Meka applied to Andover, and was accepted on a full scholarship. It was at Andover where Meka got his first real appreciation for African American culture and history, something that had interested him because of his father’s Nigerian roots.
While excelling in his studies at Andover, Meka, without an appointment, visited Morehouse College, a private historically Black men's liberal arts college in Atlanta. After learning of Meka’s already-successful academic career, Morehouse’s Dean of Admissions gave Meka a private tour. Meka graduated a year early from Morehouse with a B.S. in Computer Science. Meka then pursued his Master’s degree in Computer Science at Duke University. While at Morehouse and Duke, Meka had hands-on, valuable internships at NASA and Hewlett-Packard.
Professionally, Meka was a software developer for more than nineteen years, building software systems for governments and Fortune 500 companies from around the world. Throughout his career, Meka has made time to work with youth and education in various capacities. He has been an Alumni Admissions Representative for Andover for more than twenty years, served as youth director at his place of worship, and has led a spring break college tour for Memphis-based high school students for more than fifteen years. Meka has also been a local leader in the youth coding movement since founding the Memphis Chapter of Black Girls Code in 2012.
Meka was keenly aware that Memphis youth, most in underrepresented communities, did not have a pathway to careers in technology. Wanting to close the digital divide in underrepresented communities and increase the Black middle class in Memphis, he co-founded CodeCrew in 2015. CodeCrew is a non-profit that empowers children and adults to be leaders and producers in technology and computer science. In seven years, the organization has mentored more than 10,000 students through its innovative programs and events with topics ranging from web and mobile app development to robotics and drone programming.
Of the nearly 1,000 kids CodeCrew serves weekly, 93% are Black and Latino youth, 42% are girls, and, overall, 89% of CodeCrew students/participants are more likely to study computer science after attending a CodeCrew class or event. In the organization’s adult program, after completing the CodeCrew training course, Code School graduates are getting placed in computer science jobs earning, on average, $55,600. Prior to CodeCrew training, students’ annual salaries averaged $12,150.
Due to detailed, hands-on instruction from CodeCrew educators, CodeCrew students have been accepted into the TED-Ed Student Talks and Raising Good Gamers program. In addition, CodeCrew Hackathon teams have won first place in Tennessee’s Congressional App Challenge. All of these successes come under the careful guidance of Meka, CodeCrew’s Executive Director, and his talented team.
Meka lives in Memphis with his wife and two daughters. He serves on the Boards of the National Civil Rights Museum, the Soulsville (Stax) Foundation, the Tennessee Digital Media Council, the Greater Memphis IT Council, Workforce Midsouth, the Abbot Academy Fund, Castalia Baptist Church, and LeBonheur Children’s Hospital’s National Leadership Council.
Meka and the CodeCrew team have won numerous awards, including:
2024 Delta Sigma Theta Memphis Alumnae Chapter Outstanding Community Partner Award - CodeCrew
2024 Memphis Grizzlies Scholars Program Community Partner of the Year - CodeCrew
2020 New Sardis Baptist Church Living Legends Award - Meka
2019 Memphis Grizzlies HBCU Empowerment Award - Meka
2019 Bank of America Inaugural Neighborhood Champion - CodeCrew
2019 Leadership Memphis Top 40 Change Makers Award - Meka
2018 National Society of Black Engineers Sponsor of the Year - CodeCrew
2018 National Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) PACEsetter Community Service Award - Meka
2017 National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Memphis Chapter Torch Award - Meka
2017 Memphis Public Library Community Partner Civic Award - CodeCrew
2016 Inside Memphis Business Innovation Award - CodeCrew
2012 Memphis Business Journal, Top 40 under 40 - Meka
2010 Castalia Baptist Church Deloris Walker Achievement Award - Meka
Community Engagement:
2024 – present Board Chair, Greater Memphis Local Workforce Development Board (board member since 2018)
2023 – present Board Member, University of Memphis Research Foundation (UMRF) Ventures
2022 – present Board Member, Greater Memphis IT Council
2013 – present Board Member, National Civil Rights Museum 2016 – present Board Member, Soulsville Foundation
2022 – present Member, Tennessee Dept of Economic & Community Development Digital Opportunity Taskforce
2020 – present Member, Tennessee Dept of Education Information Technology Advisory Council
2017 – present Member, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital National Leadership Council
2017 – present Member, Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA)
2016 – present Member, National Society of Black Engineers
2017 – 2021 Member, Tennessee Entertainment Commission Interactive Digital Media Council
2013 – 2015 Board Member, Urban Youth Initiative
2012 – 2016 Board Member, Artesian Community School
2011 – 2014 Board Member, Memphis Shelby Growth Alliance
Meka’s articles:
December 2010, Meka wrote Memphis at Center of Education Reform for The Commercial Appeal.
March 2021, Meka penned an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times about how to Erase the Digital Divide.
March 2021 for The Commercial Appeal Meka co-wrote Companies Should Put More Focus into Diversity and Inclusion.
March 2021, also saw Meka write for the Los Angeles Times in How the Business and Tech Communities Can Help Erase the Digital Divide.
April 2022, he wrote an Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle about the importance of Building a Black Middle Class by Eliminating Four-Year Degree Requirements in Tech.
April 2022, he told the San Francisco Chronicle that Big tech doesn’t require four-year college degrees. Other companies should take the hint.
February 2023 for The Commercial Appeal, he wrote My Love Letter to Memphis: How the City Captures Beauty, Pain, and Grief.
June 2023, Meka shared his opinion on How Memphis Can Create a Thriving Black Tech Ecosystem with The Commercial Appeal.
February 2024 in the Chicago Tribune Meka urged that We Must Close the Digital Divide in America.
February 2024, he was a guest columnist for Patriot News in Pennsylvania Legislators Must Remove Barriers to Broadband Access Throughout the Commonwealth.
February 2024, Meka was a guest writer for the Austin American-Statesman with the piece Uncovering Biases: Black Women are America's Real AI Visionaries.