Currently: studying computer science at MIT and making education on deep learning more accessible through Momentum AI.
Next: looking to spend the summer in D.C. researching and writing about AI policy!
Here's the most valuable lesson I learned at MIT: that everything was created by someone brave enough to try, and that I could be brave enough to try. My dream is for other low-income students to believe the same of their aspirations.
I've previously done AI work at Facebook and CSAIL (PI: Daniela Rus), but I spend most of my time on the organizations I've started. Here they are!
Education Nonprofits
- Momentum AI. Each year, we invite around 100 students from underrepresented backgrounds to MIT's campus, where they build their own deep learning models with individual mentorship from students and faculty at MIT and Harvard. Our students deployed computer vision models to detect disease and adventured through supervised learning-themed escape rooms. One of our alumni attends MIT with me now! I raised $250k to launch the program.
- Bit by Bit Coding. We ran virtual and in-person programs that empowered over a thousand middle schoolers to build websites they loved — from a site connecting students and environmental initiatives to a JavaScript adventure where you, a taco, had to escape out a drive-through window. At one point, we had more than 100 incredible mentors helping students in 8 countries and 21 states, supported by a $400k budget.
- Voices of Ukraine. We documented the stories of three remarkable youth navigating love, studies, family, and combat after the full-scale invasion. Our team also covered two NATO summits, shared footage with Ukrainian studies classes at Harvard and MIT, and partnered to organize a Ukrainian art auction that raised enough money to buy tens of thousands of medical tourniquets. Please donate to save lives! $2 purchased a hot meal when we were there.
Communities
- MIT ICS: Consultants have consulting club and quants have trading club. ICS was a space for students interested in unconventional careers, especially ones that uplifted their communities or societies. Our alumni are founders, international mountain guides, clinical researchers, Youtubers, and more; I raised around $100k to support the community.
- home.based: A three-week residency for technologists to pursue curiosities and create independent projects, including yeet, founder's cafe, sshx, and livestreams!
- Hosting friends! It's been a joy hosting and meeting Raffi, Aayush, Maddie, Vincent, Amir, Kevin, Henry, Joey, and many other wonderful (but websiteless) friends this way. When I saw the world for the first time, MIT and Stanford alumni opened their spare bedrooms and cooked hot meals for me in over 20 cities. I would love to pay it forward. Do reach out if you need a place to stay!
✉ snaz [at] mit [dot] edu