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For SMASH alumna Haile Shavers18, the program and her relationship with the Kapors made a critical difference in her experience pursuing her cognitive science degree at Berkeley and launching her career as a developer at the business messaging company Slack.

I wouldnt have felt as comfortable as I did, coming into a big university, and also wouldnt have had as many connections as I do in terms of academia and industry, says Shavers, reflecting on what life would have been like without SMASH.When SMASH ends, thats not the end of the relationship that we have with SMASH and Mitch and Freada. Shes a big advocate of me wanting to grow as a Black woman, as an engineer, as an overall human.

While the gift provides scholarships specifically for SMASH alumni, all SEED Scholars students will be invited to participate in events at the Kapor Center in Oakland. The Kapors and SEED leaders are enthusiastic about the many possibilities for creating connections among rising and more established leaders in STEM and business.

This gift signals a great opportunity for SEED students and the program as a whole to tap into the substantial Kapor network, says Jamie Cate, faculty director of SEED Scholars.

Kapor Klein has always relied on data to inform her social justice work. Completing her Ph.D. in social policy research required that she process information about 20,000research subjects, which in the 1980s meant learning to run a program that could deal with a massive amount of data stored on tapes. She has a deep appreciation for the power of technology to serve progressive values, and she brought that understanding to her work at Lotus, the flagship computer company founded by her husband and business partner. At the time, her goal was to make Lotus the most progressive employer in the United States.

The Kapors recent gift to Berkeley reflects their visionary approach to social change that is also pragmatic and data-informed. Their investment includes support for SEED Scholars to build its capacity for programmatic evaluation, something they are deeply committed to with SMASH. Kapor Klein credits her days as a Berkeley undergraduate with exciting her passion for rigorous and actionable research. Clearly, the Kapors are dedicated to the healthy evolution of the initiatives they support and to the success of the many lives they touch.

When the project connects with the students lived experience, with what they see and what they can do, they feel empowered to make a difference while having a great career. That is so motivating and just life changing, says Mitch Kapor.Weve seen that so many times. Extending that from SMASH academy into the undergraduate experience through the SMASH-SEED connection is just a logical extension of what weve been doing for decades.

Read more:

SMASH and SEED: The Kapors' gift to diversify the next generation of science and tech leaders - UC Berkeley News