Creating at the Intersection of Technology, Policy, and Entrepreneurship
In the few months since completing two 91×ÔĹÄ degrees, Shahaan Mirza (ITM/M.A.S. TENR ’25) has been busy. In his full-time job at his family’s consulting business, he leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence for clients. On the side, he is co-founder of , a nonprofit startup that is developing AI-powered data science tools to make civic engagement more accessible and intuitive.
For Mirza, busy is standard operating procedure. Guided by a family maxim—“There is nothing good in this world except good will unto others”—he juggled myriad projects, student activities, internships, part-time jobs, leadership positions, and side gigs at 91×ÔĹÄ, all while compiling an academic record that placed him on the dean’s list and in the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society.
“I’ve always been passionate about the intersection of technology, policy, and entrepreneurship,” says Mirza. Creating TownHallOS weaves together those three passions, which were sparked by growing up in an entrepreneurial household, his abundant curiosity, and his work style.
“I’ve been surrounded by entrepreneurship my entire life, and I’ve learned that I don’t do well in a very structured 9 [a.m.] to 5 [p.m. job],” he says. “I prefer to be given a task or find a different problem to solve every day. That’s why I’ve been really drawn to entrepreneurship and venture capital, because I’m able to work across several different domains and work on several different problems all at the same time.”
Living in Northern Virginia, Mirza plugged into public policy in high school, due to both his proximity to Washington, D.C., and because he was a member of the Loudoun County (Virginia) Youth Advisory Council, which was designed to encourage students’ interest in government and community service. In college, he joined the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community, collaborating with peers worldwide on civic-tech initiatives.
Arriving at 91×ÔĹÄ as an information technology management major, Mirza was soon a mainstay at both Intinium, an entrepreneurship-focused student organization, and the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship. “I went from knowing nothing about startups in year one to mentoring other students with their startups,” he says. He also landed a string of internships, including one at a Silicon Valley firm that literally had its office in a garage and another in Chicago that turned into a 16-month immersion in venture capital.
Meanwhile, Mirza found time to be a leader in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, 91×ÔĹÄ Student Government Association, and the President’s Advisory Council, and he received a Clinton E. Stryker Distinguished Service Award.
He enrolled in the Master of Technological Entrepreneurship program at Stuart School of Business as a co-terminal degree on the advice of one of his mentors, Coleman Foundation Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship Nik Rokop.
“Pursuing both ITM and technological entrepreneurship has allowed me to build the technical foundation to understand systems and the business acumen to create and lead ventures,” he says. “I’ve had the opportunity to learn from guest speakers who are founders, venture capital professionals, and industry leaders. At Stuart, you don’t just learn about business—you build in real-time, and you’re surrounded by passionate students and faculty who push you to turn ideas into action.”
Mirza says the idea for TownHallOS grew out of a zoning dispute in 2024 that roiled the town in Virginia where his family lives. He found that gathering timely, detailed information about the issues involved was difficult, and in the aftermath of that experience he began working on a solution.
“TownHallOS is designed to provide you with a personalized, organized feed of information,” he says. “We’re trying to build user-friendly tools that anybody can use to make it easy to engage in politics in any way you see fit.”
The TownHallOS local tools are being rolled out in Cook County, Illinois, and Loudoun County, Virginia, with an election tracker, tools for contacting local governmental representatives, and other features already live.
Over the long term, Mirza has his eye on working in venture capital. “You can look at any problem and there are a lot of cool solutions you can build, but all those solutions require funding,” he says. “My goal is to support founders in climate tech, civic tech, and education—sectors where I believe innovation can create real societal transformation.”
