About
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Our Mission
Solve is an initiative of MIT. We believe that to build a better future for all, we need new voices and ideas. We launch open calls for exceptional and diverse solutions to the most pressing global challenges from anyone, anywhere in the world. Selected innovators get the backing of MIT and our community of supporters to scale their impact and drive lasting change. Join us on this mission.
How it started
How it's going
Where we're going
Steering committee and advisors
Solve is a natural offshoot of MIT's mission and guided by the Institute's ethos to work wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of humankind. None of this can happen alone.
Our Steering Committee represents the Institute's commitment to innovation and solving global problems. Our advisors represent a wide breadth of industries, expertise, and experiences. These individuals are our sounding board and (cheer)leaders.
Solve staff
The Solve team is united in our passion for solving towards a better world. We’re unflappable, scrappy, glass-half full kinda people.
As an initiative of MIT, we follow the principles set forth by the Institute that welcome and support people of varying backgrounds and different viewpoints, experiences, talents, and ideas. Approaches to problem-solving and decision-making are multi-dimensional, leading to success and empowering staff to thrive and do their best work.
Steering Committee
Solve's Steering Committee guides Solve’s mission and anchors it to MIT’s resources, expertise, and commitment to global impact.
Advisors
Ursula M. Burns
Founding Partner, Integrum Holdings
Megan Smith
CEO and Founder, shift7, Former U.S. CTO
Ray A. Rothrock
Executive Chairman, RedSeal, Inc.
Marjorie Yang
Chairman, Esquel Group
Noubar Afeyan
Co-Founder and Chairman, Moderna
Colin M. Angle
Chairman, CEO & Founder, iRobot
H.S.H. the Prince Henri d’Arenberg
Founder & Chairman, be.Source, a private foundation under Belgian law
Laurene Powell Jobs
Founder and President, Emerson Collective
Lubna Olayan
CEO and Deputy Chairman, Olayan Financing Company (OFC)
Vilas Dhar
President & Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
Elizabeth McGovern
Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
David Moinina Sengeh
Chief Innovation Officer, Government of Sierra Leone
Neela Montgomery
Board Partner, Greycroft Venture Capital
Eric Schmidt
Technical Advisor and Board Member, Alphabet Inc.
Henrietta Holsman Fore
Managing Partner; Chairman & CEO, Radiate Capital; Holsman InternationalFaculty Advisors
Admir Masic
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
John Fernández
Director and Professor, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
L. Rafael Reif
17th President of MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Eric Klopfer
Professor, MIT
Fiona Murray
William Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean of Innovation, MIT Sloan School of Management; Co-Director, MIT Innovation Initiative
Heidi Nepf
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
Larry Susskind
Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Sarah Williams
Director, Leventhal Center, Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism and Civic Data Design Lab @ MIT; Co-founder Envelope
Karen Zheng
George M. Bunker Associate Professor, MIT Sloan
Chakanetsa Mavhunga
Professor of Science, Technology & Society, MIT
Christopher Capozzola
Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John Ochsendorf
Founding Director, MIT Morningside Academy for Design
Eric Grimson
Chancellor for Academic Advancement, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael Cima
David H. Koch Professor of Engineering, The Cima Lab
Desirée Plata
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Plata Lab, MIT
Pawan Sinha
Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT
Martha Gray
Whitaker Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Instiute for Medical Engineering & Science, MIT