I’m thrilled to share that Zac Smith, co-founder and CEO of Packet and a member of our Operating Board, is taking on the role of Chair of the Op-Board. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Manuela Zoninsein, an angel investor and Kamiu Lee, CEO of Activate, who are stepping down from their roles as founding co-chairs of the Op-Board.
I am excited to welcome Zac, a committed, longtime supporter of Pursuit, to this leadership role at our organization. Ever since the launch of our program, he’s offered critical guidance to our community and made a number of generous donations to Pursuit. I’ve personally benefited from Zac’s advice and guidance over the years, most recently in the development of the Partnerships and Business Development team and our goals for Fellow hiring.
Zac’s expertise reflects 15 years of experience as a business builder with a focus on automated infrastructure platforms. Prior to Packet, he was an early employee and key member of the management team at Voxel, a cloud hosting company that sold to Internap in 2011 for $35MM. This year, Packet was acquired by Equinix, the global interconnection and data center company, for $335MM. Zac is also a talented musician, having attended Juilliard as a double bass major (he switched to software-driven infrastructure after graduation). I look forward to working with Zac to advance Pursuit’s mission, and I thank him for taking on this new leadership role at Pursuit.
Packet has also been an incredible partner to Pursuit through volunteer workshops and mentoring. Last year, with Manuela’s support, Packet commissioned Pursuit Fellows Shaedon Blackmon, Le'Shanda Miller, Eric Liu, Carlos Martinez, and Muna Sharma to design an app measuring the carbon footprint of cloud services. The company later flew those Fellows to Las Vegas and invited them to present their app at the company’s prestigious annual IFX conference. We also look forward to continuing to work with Packet to create opportunities for our Fellows.
I would also like to share a note of gratitude to Manuela and Kamiu as they step off the Op-Board.
As the founding co-chairs, they took the Op-Board from concept to reality, recruiting and building an incredibly dynamic, talented, and committed group of leaders. Since the Op-Board’s inception, Kamiu and Manuela have shared real-world insights and market feedback, expanded our networks, and brought employers to the door to hire our Fellows. We have seen this Board translate into significant resources for Pursuit, including employment opportunities at leading companies such as Sinequa and Goldman Sachs. Their success and impact has been clear.
I want to thank Manuela for her creativity, passion, and empathy. Her entrepreneurial spirit and ability to bring people together have been a great source of energy for me and for Pursuit. One of the things I admire most about Manuela is her personal commitment to her values. She puts real action behind her beliefs and doesn’t just talk the talk. She and her husband, Bonobos co-founder Andy Dunn, have dedicated their time and resources to supporting our Fellows. I have seen this time and time again.
I want to thank Kamiu for her commitment and dedication to Pursuit. Kamiu has been involved with Pursuit from the early days, volunteering her expertise and serving as a co-chair for our second gala, one of our important early fundraising events. She has also leveraged her leadership in business as the CEO of Activate, and now, as the co-founder of her startup, Proper, to offer Pursuit guidance on strategic planning and decision making. I have valued our friendship ever since high school, and I am proud and fortunate to have worked with and learned from her all these years.
The support of talented and accomplished leaders like Zac, Manuela, and Kamiu have been critical to the success of our organization. Please join me in congratulating Zac and thanking Kamiu and Manuela!
—Jukay Hsu, co-founder and CEO of Pursuit
