quick guides

MIT Alumni & Parents

MIT students are amazing — you know that from personal experience. Share their adventures by supporting their public service work, whether it's in your home community, at MIT, or halfway around the world from you. There are so many ways to participate, wherever you are. Here are just a few ideas….

Make a donation to the PSC. Create capacity in MIT students and in communities simultaneously. MIT students are changing the world, and you can be part of the progress.

Inform us about work in your community that MIT students can tackle, whether you live in San Francisco, Sri Lanka, or Senegal. MIT students can only apply their ingenuity to issues they know about — so help us all learn. And, if we send a student your way, perhaps you can help them figure out where to stay safely, or share a meal with them, or offer them some practical advice. Getting to know MIT students is a wonderful way to stay in touch with MIT.

Work directly with students as an advisor, mentor, or consultant: in person or via email, at MIT or in the field, for a class project or for an independent individual or group project. Student projects range from inventing a new village-level solar collection system in Lesotho to establishing a new hands-on science program in Cambridge. Students need general guidance, patent and venture capital advice, marketing savvy, technical advice, thoughts on how to produce a charcoal press to make it more affordable to people whose annual income is $200. MIT students can do anything — with your help. Let us know how you want to participate. Sponsor a service externship during IAP.

Work with a class or program. Have fun with Toy Product Design; revolutionize wheelchairs for developing countries; become part of the support crew for 2.009, D-Lab, or other service learning classes. Maybe you can lead a field expedition, maybe advise a design team. Maybe your knowledge of local conditions and needs will enable us to send an MIT student Fellow to build capacity for a community organization or school in your area.

Work with PSC staff on the Center's growth and development. Do innovation and entrepreneurship excite you? Join the IDEAS Competition volunteer staff and give students feedback on their initial proposals in writing or in person. Or help to transform the new MIT Global Challenge from an idea into a reality. Or help us build a new alumni/parent organization to support public service at MIT.

We'd like to offer you a chance to shape the future, MIT-style. Get in touch with us, and start today!