Our Network
The Garage’s reach is far and wide. We’ve met some extraordinary people, had dinner with established founders, and visited some of the most talked about offices in the country.
People We Know
Through alumni connections, field trips, and more, students at The Garage have been offered exciting opportunities for conversations with some of their favorite people, including:
Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO at SpaceX
Katrina Lake, Co-founder and CEO of Stitch Fix
Maye Musk, Model and Author (Elon’s mom)
Brian Chesky, Co-founder of Airbnb
Ann Crady Weiss, Co-founder of HatchBaby
Gwyneth Paltrow, Founder of goop
Family Dinner Speakers
Every week during the academic year, The Garage holds Family Dinner for our Resident students. With an exclusive invite, students hear frank talks from accomplished founders and storytellers in an intimate and casual environment.
Josh Earnest
White House Press Secretary for the Obama Administration
Elise Wetzel, Weinberg ’87 + Kellogg ’92
Co-founder of Blaze Pizza
Charles Adler
Co-founder of Kickstarter
Katrina Lake
Founder and CEO of Stitch Fix
Jake Nickell
Founder of Threadless
Steve Larosiliere
Founder of Stoked
Andy Friedman
Co-founder of SkinnyPop
Cayla Weisberg
Partner at InvestHER
Mike Golden
Co-founder of @properties
Matt Matros
Founder of Protein Bar and Limitless Coffee and Tea
Linxin Wen
Co-founder of Chowbus
Alex Niemczewski
Co-founder of BallotReady
Stephen Kuhl
Co-founder of Burrow
Neal Sales-Griffin, SESP ’09
Co-founder of Codenow / Managing Director of Techstars Chicago
Raaja Nemani, WCAS ’04
Co-founder of Bucketfeet
Kate Solomon, Kellogg ’02
Founder of Babo Botanicals
Places We’ve Been
In addition to quarterly field trips to innovative Chicago-based offices, we’ve taken students on treks to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City, where we’ve spent time with accomplished alumni. We’ve stopped by the Northwestern spaces in NYC and SF, and visited amazing places like the New York Stock Exchange and Uber’s headquarters.
The floor of the NY Stock Exchange
Visiting SpaceX in LA
Visiting RXBAR’s new offices in Chicago
Stopping by Cards Against Humanity’s secret Chicago location
Other Places We’ve Visited
Bumble
Austin
Chicago
Uber
San Francisco
The New York Times
NYC
Thrive Global
NYC
goop
LA