Throughout this summer, the PKG Center at MIT will be hosting a series of sessions highlighting public interest technology work and the folx engaged in this field. We will be offering a mixture of panel discussions and workshops with students, faculty, and community partners to think more deeply about stretching the impact of our technological skills by using them in public good spaces. These sessions are open to all MIT students and the wider community, and we particularly welcome participation by other schools in the PIT-UN network.

For session 1, we will be joined by Sebastian Sandoval Olascoaga. Sebastian is a third-year PhD candidate in urban economics and policy analysis in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Sebastian is collaborating with the Conservation Law Foundation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Study to understand how long-term structural racism (such as redlining) contributes to current problems such as house-flipping and gentrification in structurally discriminated neighborhoods in New England. Sebastian uses novel applications of computational tech, such as causal inference and machine learning, to investigate these historical and societal issues. To kickoff this summer series, Sebastian will share his work, as well as his journey into it.

To learn more about Sebastian, please go to: https://sebastian-olascoaga.com/ 
For more information on upcoming sessions, please contact mbaldeh@mit.edu.