Jake Seid ’98 SB MEng, MITCNC Board Members

In addition to his involvement with the MITCNC board, Jake organizes the “View From The Top” series that invites industry leaders to give talks about topics like autonomous vehicles and blockchain/Bitcoin. Learn more about Jake

Why did you decide to volunteer with the MITCNC?

When I came to Silicon Valley I got so much out of the MIT alum community and wanted to give back.

Tell us a bit about your role with the MITCNC. What are your responsibilities in this position?

I’ve been on the board for several years. Beyond the activity on the board, I’ve gotten more involved by organizing the “View From The Top” series where we’ve held events that bring industry leaders to speak about various topics such as autonomous vehicles and blockchain/Bitcoin.

What exciting things can we expect to see from your area of focus in the coming months? (e.g., social events, speakers, etc.)

I hope to organize more events as part of the view from the top series. The goal is to find speakers and topics that would be relevant to our diverse local alum community.

Describe one of your most memorable MIT moments.

When I was a student MIT sponsored me and a good friend to go to China to connect the first high school there to the Internet. This was around the mid-90’s and China was a totally different place. The experience was so amazing that it led my friend and I to start MIT-CETI, the MIT-China Educational Technology Initiative. CETI brings MIT students to schools in China to leverage the Internet for educational purposes in a number of different ways. CETI continues to this day and is now almost 25 years old. CETI really showed me how young people from very different cultures and countries are really not so different. It also showed me how the relationships that get built totally change our understanding of one another. As a result, I went on to co-found the MIT-Israel and MIT-Chile programs with the goal of building similar bridges between MIT students and young students in those countries. It’s very moving for me when hear the stories from current and former students on how the experiences impacted them.