When Manuela Zoninsein saw Pursuit Fellow Shaedon Blackman present his app, Cookbook, last year at Demo Day, she didn’t just see an aspiring software developer—she saw a project partner.
Shaedon was searching for an engineering job; Manuela was searching for an engineer.
“Now, it’s off to the races,” says Manuela, Pursuit’s Operating Board (Op-Board) co-chair, who hired Shaedon and five other Pursuit Fellows to help her build and design an app that measures the carbon footprint of cloud services. The app was commissioned by Packet, whose CEO and co-founder Zachary Smith is also a Pursuit Op-Board member.
“It’s amazing to see Shaedon lead the charge on the project,” Manuela says. “He’s so talented, motivated, determined—his work is outstanding.”
Creating opportunity for our talented developers is one of the many ways that Pursuit’s Operating Board—a group of leaders in tech, business, and social change—impacts our organization.
Since launching in 2018, the Op-Board has been working to advance Pursuit as the social impact organization of choice for the tech community. Its members share real-world insights and market feedback so Pursuit can seize on new opportunities, contribute financially to the organization, and bring employers to the door to hire our Fellows.
Pursuit Fellow Shaedon and Op-board Co-chair Manuela
Op-Board members offer guidance, sit on panels, and help Bash fundraising activities in support of Pursuit.
Our Op-Board members include:
Kamiu Lee, Op-Board co-chair and CEO of Activate
Manuela Zoninsein, Op-Board co-chair and Angel investor
Sam Charney, founder of Charney Construction and Development
Meredith Finn, partner at March Capital Partners
Merritt Hummer, senior principal at Bain Capital Ventures
Akila Raman-Vaseghi, managing director at Goldman Sachs
Rich Siu, chief investment officer at F&T Group
Zachary Smith, co-founder and CEO of Packet
Zohar Yardeni, chief product officer at The Knot Worldwide.
In addition to Pursuit’s Board of Directors, the Op-Board takes on more of the role of a “race car pit crew,” Zoninsein says.
“It’s our job to roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty, and help Pursuit get to the next level,” Zoninsein says. “This is a group of doers who are willing to put skin in the game and see how we can help out Pursuit in proactive and opportunistic ways.”
Members of the Op-Board are driven by the impact we make on our Fellows. Kamiu recalled being moved by a Fellow who described his experience of going from a cashier and bagger at a supermarket to a full-time software developer at a leading technology company.
“The untapped talent out there is mind-blowing,” Kamiu says. “There’s so many incredibly smart, hard-working people out there. But if they don’t have the opportunity, or even a stepping stone, it’s incredibly hard to break out of your situation.”
That’s why it was so important to create opportunity for Shaedon and the Pursuit Fellows working on the app for Packet. After completing the project, Shaedon and his team will fly out to Las Vegas to a conference hosted by the company. They’ll have the opportunity to demo their app, network with leaders in the tech industry, and learn about new employment opportunities.
“People in the industry will have the chance to see how impressive Pursuit Fellows are, and what they’re capable of,” Manuela says of the conference.
Adds Kamiu, “There’s so many tech-enabled companies that need to hire engineers. We want these companies to know about Pursuit and the amazing talent the organization is producing. If we can make that happen, then we’ve done our jobs.”
