Team Spotlight: Leva

by Elizabeth Savin ’25

The Garage recently sat down with the founder of Leva, Kate Fawcett, Medill ‘24, to learn more about the company and why Kate wanted to work on this project.

What is Leva in its current form?

Leva is a business-to-business technology startup for women in the workplace to build mentorships.  

Can you share a bit about your background and what led you to found Leva?

When I got to Northwestern, I knew I wanted to be involved in The Garage. Throughout high school, I had been thinking of a variety of different ideas but never had a place like The Garage to pursue them. One idea that always stuck with me was mentorship, specifically for females. In my life, the mentors and connections I had were always made better if we had something in common, so I originally was working to create a pairing in which the mentors and mentees had commonalities with each other.

Since then, the idea has changed. Now, the goal is to pair women within companies in order to increase the retention rate employers have. I was very excited to have the opportunity to found a company in college because it is a really great way to gain hands-on experience.

How was the fall quarter for your business?

Fall quarter was great! My team was very focused on product development and we are excited to launch. 

What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a company?

I think one of the biggest challenges has been doing the right amount of technical development while also doing enough market research and data analysis. It can just be really hard to strike the right balance. If you do too much coding without first doing the research you could be left with code that does not appeal to the users.

On the flip side, if all we are doing is market research, we don’t have the highest quality product possible to show potential clients. We have been working hard to strike the right balance.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my team. We all work really well together and each of us has distinct skill sets. It is a very collaborative environment and we are all genuinely interested in each other’s work.

How can people get involved or learn more?

People can follow us on Instagram @levanetwork, email us at levamentorship@gmail.com, or visit our new website levamentorship.com!

Elizabeth Savin ’25 is a Manufacturing and Design Engineering major from Wilmette, IL. She is a student aide at The Garage and is excited to become involved in the programs The Garage offers students. Her favorite thing about The Garage is that students have the opportunity to receive hands-on experience with entrepreneurship.