By Shandana Mufti

When Bill Mayo (BSCS ’88; MBA ‘94) attended Northeastern as a computer science student in the 1980s, it was a different place. The computer science program was still a young one. The co-op program was a major draw, but other opportunities that today’s students expect and enjoy – like the Venture Mentoring Network (VMN) – had yet to be developed. A lot has changed since then.

“It just feels so much more mature, so much more complete…from things like VMN to the robust community that is the Northeastern experience right now,” Bill says. “It is really second to none.”

Because of his work with VMN on its Steering Committee, as a CCIS liaison and as a mentor, Bill has a unique view into the experience of today’s CCIS students. VMN connects Northeastern students, faculty and alumni with experienced mentors who prime them for success. Ventures and mentors are introduced at sessions where the ventures present their ideas and mentors speak up if they have something to offer. Bill is currently working with CCIS to sponsor a VMN session in September, at which Dean Carla Brodley will be speaking.

As a mentor, Bill has been closely involved with Idyoma, an app developed by D’Amore-McKim School of Business student John Lloyd (BSBA ’17). After struggling to connect with native Spanish speakers while studying abroad in Spain, John developed Idyoma to help native speakers connect with people interested in learning a new language. Bill has watched the app develop, first helping John answer questions around budgeting and where to allocate funds to now helping him think through the process of speaking with venture capitalists and how to support the app roll out.

“It’s just been a huge success, both as an entity and to see John’s development,” Bill says. “It was a perfect way to pick up on the experience that I had gained in the years since I had left, to try to use some of that experience to help others, give back.”

After finishing his undergraduate studies, Bill worked for his former co-op employers at Gillette until 2007. During this time, Bill returned to Northeastern, this time enrolling in the business school and earning an MBA with a focus on working in high tech settings. Since leaving Gillette, Bill has taught at Northeastern and worked at ModusLink and Biogen.

Now, in addition to his work with VMN and CCIS, Bill is Chief Information Officer at the Broad Institute, a non-profit biomedical and genomic research center. He also serves as chairman of the board of Ascentria Care Alliance, one of New England’s largest multi-purpose social service agencies.

Of all his work through the years, Bill says what he finds most fulfilling is building meaningful connections. This realization came to him after he left Biogen and spent some time consulting with smaller Boston/Cambridge-area companies. During this period, Bill realized he enjoyed working with different people, learning new things and fostering new relationships between different partners. Now, leveraging his success and sharing the contacts and connections he’s built up over nearly three decades in the industry is a driving force of Bill’s work and volunteering.

“I’m forever thinking about how I can make connections that help Northeastern, the Broad and Ascentria do wonderful things,” he says. “We can do all this amazing stuff, but only with the right partnerships.”