Office Hours at The Garage
Office Hours are a great way for Northwestern students to learn more about The Garage or get help with an entrepreneurial venture – or both!
Members of our community are available to provide guidance on a wide array of topics. Read on to determine which expert is the best fit for you at this juncture. Due to the high demand for Office Hours, please note that these meetings may not be used for class interviews. At this time, Office Hours will be held virtually.
OPEN TO ALL NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS
Not sure where to begin? Curious about programs at The Garage? Want to brainstorm an idea? Chatting 1-1 with a peer is the perfect place to start.
Elam Blackwell, Weinberg + SoC ’22
Founder at Mark IV Games
Elam is studying Physics and Theatre as a double major. He’s currently working on Mark IV Games, a startup he created in 2019. Mark IV Games is focused on designing and publishing board games. Elam and his team are excited to launch their first game, Factions of Sol. Elam has participated in the Tinker program, the Residency program, X-Factor, and also provides Office Hours as part of The Opportunity Fund.
Josh Breite, SESP ’22
Josh is a senior at Northwestern majoring in learning and organizational change and minoring in computer science. He’s a former Resident in The Garage where he led an educational technology project. He just finished a 6 month internship at Pogo, working on product (and other things), a startup, that is reimagining the data economy by directly rewarding people for their data. He is also a AWS university scout, giving free credits and helping students out with their AWS needs.
Nicola Craig, Kellogg ’22
Founder at Palette
Nicola Craig is a Kellogg student from Toronto, Canada. After graduating with a b.comm from Smith School of Business at Queen’s University she started her career working as a management consultant at Bain & Company. She came to Kellogg to focus on entrepreneurship and spent her first year building Palette, which aims to be the ‘DryBar’ for makeup and offers inclusive and dependable makeup services.
Yasmeena Faycurry, Weinberg ’22
Founder at Unfound
Yasmeena is a senior studying economics. For her honors thesis, she is researching how big tech companies use behavioral economics to hook their users. Currently, she works at Listen Ventures, a B2C VC based in Chicago. She also runs her startup Unfound – an app community where people share the places they love. Unfound launched in March 2021 and currently has over 6,000 users spanning 70+ countries (with 1,000+ MAU). Yasmeena has also grown several TikTok accounts (25k+ followers) which she uses to market Unfound organically. She has participated in Jumpstart, was an ambassador for Propel, and was a student in YC’s Startup School.
Kevin Kaspar, McCormick ’24
Co-founder at InfernoGuard
Kevin is a sophomore studying Manufacturing and Design Engineering (MaDE) and Business Institutions. He is the co-founder of InfernoGuard, a startup that provides prompt wildfire detection and notification through continued monitoring of environmental conditions. InfernoGuard recently participated in the Jumpstart Pre-accelerator program and placed third at Demo Day! Kevin’s eager to help all students swiftly integrate into The Garage community.
Adala Makhulo, Weinberg + SoC ’23
Founder at 3 Point Productions
Adala is a Radio/Television/Film and Psychology Major at with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She is passionate about the Film and Media Industry. She’s an alumnus at the MultiChoice Talent Factory East Africa. Adala is working on 3 Point Productions, a film production company based in Nairobi, Kenya making content for the youth, by the youth. Adala also provides Office Hours as part of The Opportunity Fund.
Charlotte Oxnam, McCormick ’23
Founder at Cue the Curves
Charlotte is a junior studying Industrial Engineering with a minor in Entrepreneurship. During her freshman year she started Cue the Curves, an online platform reimagining the plus-size shopping experience. She participated in the Propel program at The Garage in 2019 and was a participant in Jumpstart in summer 2021.
Niraj Shah, McCormick ’23,
Co-Founder at Xenah Developers
Niraj is majoring in Computer Science, minoring in Data Science and Engineering and completing the Kellogg Certificate in Managerial Analytics. He co-founded a coding consultancy that helps provide technical solutions to clients while also helping Northwestern CS students gain real world project experience. He is currently a Resident at The Garage. He’s excited to others help navigate the intricate world of starting a company.
OPEN TO ALL NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS
Alumni of The Garage have gone on to do incredible things. Learn more about their journeys, and gain valuable insight from their experiences.
Sarah Ahmad, McCormick ’18
Co-founder of Stable
Sarah is the co-founder and CEO of Stable (YC W20) – a virtual address and mailroom for startups. Previously, she was a UX Engineer at LifeLink. During her time at Northwestern, she co-founded HotPlate, a food app to help diners find the best dishes at local restaurants. She graduated from Northwestern in 2018 with a B.S. in Integrated Engineering Studies and a double major in Economics.
Ibraheem Alinur, McCormick ‘20
Co-founder at City Health Tech
Ibraheem is a former Resident at The Garage, and participated in Jumpstart and X-Factor. He’s currently an NU Entrep Advisory Board Member and a DeepWork Capital Venture Fellow. He was also named in Chicago Inno’s 25 under 25 in 2019. He’s excited to launch Opal, City Health Tech’s first product, seen on Forbes, TechCrunch, Politico, ABC, Fox, Obama Foundation, WGN Radio, Cleaning and Maintenance Magazine, and Northwestern Now.
Rachel Cantor, SoC ’20
Brand and Content Marketing Lead at Tydo
Rachel runs brand strategy and content marketing at Tydo. Prior to joining Tydo, she was a writer at Morning Brew. Rachel is also a cofounder of Oddly Specific, a NYC-based event series helping people connect in oddly specific ways. At NU, Rachel was part of the first cohort of Little Joe Venture Fellows and was one of the Exec Co-Chairs of NUDM. She graduated in 2020 with a B.S. in Communication Studies, a minor in French, and certificates in IMC and Entrepreneurship.
Lilliana de Souza, McCormick ’21
Software Engineer at Captain
Lilliana was a Computer Science and Entrepreneurship student, an LJV Fellow, and has won competitions such as ImproveNU and Stanford’s Hackathon. She loves helping ventures succeed and mentoring students to find their passions. For the past two years, Lilliana worked in venture capital at Techstars Chicago, a startup accelerator.
Peter Dorward, McCormick ’21
Founder at Litterbox
Peter was a Mechanical Engineering and MaDE student from Milwaukee, WI. He has previously interned at Tesla and P&G and is a co-founder of Litterbox, a Northwestern student-run summer storage company. He is an X-Factor participant and former President of EPIC, NU’s undergrad entrepreneurship club. Peter is passionate about team mentorship and getting underclassmen involved in entrepreneurship.
Caleb Holland, SESP ’21
Associate Consultant at Slalom
Caleb was a student studying Learning and Organizational Change and Entrepreneurship. He is passionate about building businesses with a focus on social impact and social justice. As a Resident, he worked on Innovestments, a real estate investment company that empowers everyday people to become ethical real estate investors.
Sam Kim, Weinberg ’20
Data Strategy Analyst at Catch Co.
Sam is passionate about helping people and companies succeed. As a student, he founded multiple startups that incubated at The Garage including Care Package and Receiver. He participated in the inaugural cohort of Little Joe Ventures Fellows. In his current role, his team is on the hunt to make Catch Co.’s processes more efficient and strive to build infrastructure that enables everyone to think like the founder.
Spencer Levitt, Weinberg ’21
Co-founder at Buffd
Spencer was a Computer Science student from Baltimore, MD. He previously interned at Under Armour HQ and worked as a web developer at an EdTech startup. Most recently, he co-founded Buffd (previously Qade), a platform that provides automated stats and performance reports for gamers, winning grand prizes at VentureCat and Jumpstart.
Don Meier, Kellogg ’19
Startup & Innovation Scout
Don is an Industry 4.0 startup and innovation scout at Deloitte. He has experience founding a startup, LineShift, and working in the high-technology space. He earned his BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
Lucas Philips, SESP ’19
President at Newark Auto Parts
In Lucas’ freshman year at Northwestern, he founded BrewBike. He then participated in the Jumpstart Pre-Accelerator, won second place at VentureCat 2018, and retained Residency at The Garage for 15 quarters. After Brewbike, Lucas acquired and now leads Newark Auto Products, a 114-year-old manufacturer of automotive interior parts that preserve the timeless beauty of vintage cars.
Connor Regan, SESP ’16, Medill ’20
Product Manager at Facebook
Connor is a Product Manager at Facebook, working on building and scaling advocacy experiences. Previously, he worked on product and policy at YouTube, led retail marketing for Nest Labs in Northern Europe, and built products for kids and families on Google’s privacy and security team. At Northwestern, he helped launch a robotics startup at The Garage and co-led entrepreneurship group Student Holdings.
Arshya Srinivas, McCormick ’21
Data Science Intern at SONIC Research Group
Arshya studied Industrial Engineering and completed the Kellogg Undergraduate Certificate in Managerial Analytics. She is passionate about diversity in entrepreneurship, leadership techniques, and data analytics. She helped co-found ScopeNU, a discount aggregation platform that connects savings to our communities.
Matt Zients, SESP ’20
Operations Coordinator at Everytable
Matt is passionate about civic engagement, volunteering, and social justice. At Northwestern, he studied Social Policy, Design, and Playwriting. Over 5 years ago, Matt founded Connect & Care, a nonprofit tech startup that aims to connect young people to impactful organizations around the world.
OPEN TO ALL NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS
Founders in Residence are experienced alumni or former students working on their ventures full-time and using The Garage as their office.
Ana Cornell
Co-founder, Acorn Genetics
Ana is the CEO and Co-Founder of Acorn Genetics, the first at-home DNA testing company. At Northwestern, she studied biomedical engineering, and has experience building user interfaces for apps, nanotech and hardware, and a deep understanding of genetics and xgenetic technology. While at Acorn, she has raised $70,000, recruited and currently manages 15 undergrads, graduates, and full time employees, and participated in a number of programs including Jumpstart, the national NSF I-Corps, and Propel
Raman Malik
Co-founder, Rhetoric
Raman is a graduate student at the Kellogg School of Management and the McCormick School of Engineering. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of Rhetoric – a presentation feedback platform. Prior to Northwestern, Raman spent six years in data science, the majority on the growth team at Lyft as a Data Science Manager. He is passionate about building products to help founders grow and advance their careers.
Mateo Price
Co-founder, AMA
Mateo studied Psychology and Economics at NU and is passionate about brands, social media, and building digital communities. He’s the founder of Authentic Media Ascension (AMA), which is a creator growth studio helping brands & creators better engage their audiences through data. The business started with a cold email to his favorite YouTuber and has since grown to creating $5M in incremental revenue for their partners.
OPEN TO RESIDENTS AND TINKERERS OF THE GARAGE ONLY
Mike Raab
Associate Director of The Garage
Topics:
Meet for general questions or information about The Garage and our programs.
Melissa Kaufman
Executive Director of The Garage
Topics:
Meet if you’ve been referred by someone else on this page.
Chandra Whitfield
Medill / Garage Fellow
Topics: Discuss The Center for Independent Journalists (CIJ), freelancing as entrepreneurship, fellowships, or diversity in the workplace.
OPEN TO RESIDENTS AND TINKERERS OF THE GARAGE ONLY
Questions?
Email us at thegarage@northwestern.edu