VMS relies primarily on the financial support from our mentors, mentees, and friends.
With your gift, you will join other VMS donors, whose commitment to our fledgling businesses has helped drive innovation and fulfill MIT’s educational mission.
Ways you can support VMS
Check [Payable to MIT. Designated to Venture Mentoring Service #2730500]
Donor-Advised Fund [Payable to MIT. Designated to Venture Mentoring Service #2730500]
Meet our Donors
Donor Spotlight - Kamala Grasso
A VMS entrepreneur on why she gives back:
As an MIT alum and member of the teaching staff, I know there are many worthy causes competing for support. And like many of you, I get many many requests from various MIT organizations. Yet VMS stands out because I can see the impact directly. And I see how much demand there is for what we do. When I was a student here many years ago, there were not the entrepreneurship resources we have today unfortunately.
And now I see how big a part these programs are to the MIT experience.
For my first few years as a VMS mentor, I didn't make a financial gift. I believed that contributing my time was enough. But as I became more involved in the business side of VMS, I learned how deeply the program depends on philanthropy. The mentoring, training, staff support, and infrastructure that make VMS so effective are all sustained by donor generosity.
That's why I made my first gift this year. What matters most is not the amount—it is participation. When mentors give at any level, we demonstrate our collective commitment to ensuring that VMS remains strong for future generations of MIT entrepreneurs”
Kamala has over 30 years of experience in product development, from upfront ideation and concept development all the way through to product launch and lifecycle management. Currently, as president of her own consulting firm, Kamala helps companies design and market innovative new products and manage customer experience initiatives. Before starting her own business, she spent 19 years at Bose Corporation in a variety of engineering and marketing roles. During her tenure at Bose, she developed and managed the company’s go-to-market process and oversaw high-profile launches such as QuietComfort headphones and SoundTouch® and SoundLink® speakers. She also managed large organizational change initiatives and built a global marketing communications group.
We thank Kamala for her generous support!
VMS Founders Society
Securing the vision of our founders, Alec Dingee and Dave Staelin
The VMS Founders Society honors a select group of donors to the VMS Endowment Fund, whose leadership commitment helps to assure the future of our program and serves as a role model for others.
Gordon & Cathryn Baty
Jeffrey Bernstein
Susan J. Gray (Mrs. Alexander Dingee, Jr.)
Allan M. Green
Sherwin & Vivian Greenblatt
Steven and Carolyn Kelly
James Kemler
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
Morton Meyerson
Silvio Micali
Donald Shobrys & Carol Aronson
Ellen Staelin
Ray Stata
Robert Stearns
Rajeev Surati
Charles & Margo Yie
Todd Zion
VMS Annual Donor Honor Roll
The MIT Venture Mentoring Service thanks the following donors for their generosity in Fiscal Year 2024 (July 2023—June 2024).
Endowment
Allan Green
Sherwin and Vivian Greenblatt
Ray and Maria Stata
Charles and Margo Yie
Demo Day 2024
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
Akston Biosciences
Math Works
MIT Stex 25
Ray and Maria Stata
Operational Support
Jerry Ackerman
Carlton Aird
Roi Amszynowski & Catalina Araya Cohen *
Enrico Ancona
Anonymous
Gordon and Kate Baty
Afarin Bellisario
Jeffrey Bernstein
Paul Bosco
Kerry Bowie
Adele Bozza
Everett Bramhall
Aliki Collins
Shivang Dave *
Lucas DiLeo
Kyriaki Dunussi & John Joannopoulos
Ernest & Young Foundation
Geoffrey Gill
Louis Goldish
Robert Goodof
Robert Gottlieb
Allan M. Green
Jonathan Green & Jennifer Stone
Louis Gudema
Joseph Hadzima
James Harrison
John Harthorne *
Paul Hartung
Deb Hicks
Catherine Iacobo
Diane Joseph-McCarthy
Jonathan Katz
Stephen & Carolyn Kelly *
Charles Kiefer
Lawrence Krakauer
Natalie Kuldell *
Kristin Kupres
Gene Landy
Hikyu Lee
Howard Levin
Jesse Lipcon
Roman Lubynsky & Karen Golz
George Mabry
David Manns
Walter Massenburg
Jerome Meier
Ali Merchant *
Julie Messervy *
Peter Miller
Kyra Montagu
Margery Myers
Quinton Ng *
John O’Donnell
Katherine Putnam
Dhananjaya Rao
Neil Rasmussen & Anna Winter
Peter Rosenblum
Daniel Ross
Ernest Sabine
Alexander Sappok
Ronald Scharlack
Andrea Schievella & Robert Karp
Joel Schindall
John Schwartz
Richard Scott
William Severns
Donald Shobrys & Carol Aronson
Kevin Sieck
Michael Silverman
Jeffrey Singer
Stephen Smith
Jerry Socol
Joseph Soussou
Robert Stearns
Bruce Sunstein
Elliot Swan
Carol & Neil Todreas
Bill Townsend *
John Turner & Tee Taggart
James Van Alen
Pierre & Amy Villeneuve
Susan & William Wagner
Tairan W& & Huan Yao *
Steven Willis
Charles Yie
Kent Zelle *
Pei Zhang *
Charles Ziering
* VMS entrepreneur