Jennie Ostendorf is a community-cultivating, story-obsessed dot connector excited to be exploring the new frontier of the unseen world. At Seed, she focuses on nurturing our ecosystem of partners, practitioners, moms, dads, innovators, thinkers, activists, storytellers, and translators—creating a uniquely special experience for each cohort and of course, for all of you.

The daughter of two entrepreneurs, Jennie has always gravitated towards disruptive environments that allow her to investigate complex challenges and bring people together to drive towards a shared mission. Before she found her way to Seed, Jennie spent three and a half years at the creative platform Tongal. There, she managed content development partnerships with studios, networks, and brands and leveraged the power of Tongal’s +150K creative community to produce digital and social content for National Geographic, NBCUniversal, and The LEGO Group. Jennie started her career in media and entertainment at the boutique PR firm Independent Public Relations, where she worked on strategic promotional and awards campaigns across film, television, theatre, and literature.

A Los Angeles native, Jennie had a brief affair with New York while attending Barnard College at Columbia University. She graduated in 2013 with a degree in Economics and minors in Dance and Leadership Studies. When she’s OOO, you can find her on a yoga mat, in a movie theater, taking in a beach-front sunset, or cultivating her own community at book club and pizza night with friends. She’s also a big fan of the bees 🐝.

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In conversation with Jennie:

Six word story of your life.
Small human woman seeking big story.

What was your first brush with science?
In second grade, I visited the California Science Center, where I experienced my first sentient brush with science. There, I met Tess—the 50 foot human body simulator who taught my classmates and me about homeostasis. As I watched her giant-sized organs light up while she explained how our circulatory and respiratory systems interact to keep our bodies in balance, I came into the understanding that the human body is a complex machine, a community of parts and levers working together in symphony. I can point back to this moment as the first spark of my realization that my body is an ecosystem—programmed to take care of itself and exist in its natural state—and that there is so much to explore beneath the surface.

Why do you think bacteria are important?
It’s bacteria’s world—we’re all just living in it.

How do you define science?
The code to the universe.

How do you define health?
The most basic right of any living thing.

What are you currently reading / listening / watching?
Science Vs., Gimlet Media
Missing Microbes by Martin J. Blaser, MD
A User’s Guide to Cheating Death, Netflix
Killing Eve, BBC America
As many movies and musicals as I can get to in theaters

Favorite microbiome-nurturing food?
Avocado

Scientist, dead or alive, you’d like to eat lunch with?
Rosalind Franklin

Microbiome perturbation you’re trying to give up.
Late nights + early mornings

Favorite science joke or best mindgasm fact?
We’re all descendants of bacteria.

Social channels?
@jennieostendorf