Undergraduate Spotlight
Womxn in Economics (WiE)
- WiE started off the academic year with a membership mixer, allowing new and returning students to get to know one another as they all returned to campus. In November, the organization was awarded an InclusionNU Fund from the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. The group used their award money to host a Pathways in Economics panel featuring female Northwestern Economics alumni including Kelsey Pukelis, Hannah Paridis, and Lauren Thomas along with current students Emma Chiu and Kyla Neely.
Northwestern Economics Tournament (NET)
- The NET team has been hard at work preparing for the 2024 iteration of the Northwestern Economics Tournament which will be hosted on-campus and online April 6-7, 2024.
Undergraduate Economics Society
- In November, the Undergraduate Economics Society and Department of Economics co-hosted a Feed Your Mind lunch seminar with Assistant Professor Eric Auerbach. In this small-group setting, Professor Auerbach spoke to students about his research, Identifying Socially Disruptive Policies, and students had the opportunity to ask questions and engage with a faculty member more intimately than in a large lecture.
Chicago Public Schools Financial Literacy Outreach (CPS FLO)
- This fall, CPS FLO has been continuing to pursue its mission of providing financial literacy education to low-income, minority-dominant schools in the Chicago Public Schools district. The organization is also introducing a new program that focuses on addressing Education and Economics Stability social determinants of health.
Many current and former undergraduate students are innovating through entrepreneurship and raising significant capital for their ventures.
Amar Shah ’17, president & co-founder at Change has been featured on the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for social impact, along with his Northwestern alum co-founder, Sonia Nigam.
Bonside, founded by Neha Govindraj '15, raised a $5M fund to finance brick & mortar stores in a new way. Launched in June 2023, Bonside offers a form of financing that doesn’t require physical businesses to give up equity to investors or take on debt. Rather than take an ownership stake, Bonside writes checks in exchange for a percentage of businesses’ revenue, paid back until those stores reach a fixed cap. It calls this financing a “repeatable revenue agreement.”
League One Volleyball, co-founded by Katlyn Gao '01, raised a $35M Series B, bringing the league’s total funding to nearly $60M to date. The latest round includes a slew of athletes, entertainers, and execs: former U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn, Candace Parker of the Las Vegas Aces, and her daughter Lailaa, U.S. volleyball player Jordyn Poulter, and actress Amy Schumer.
Plenful, a startup developing workflow automation tools for healthcare providers, announced a $9M funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The company was co-founded by CEO Joy Liu '15 in 2020.
hostU, founded by junior Bella Le Sage '25, raised venture funding from Edwin Marcial and Thirteen Castles. hostU facilitates medium-term shared housing rentals within the university community, connecting students and faculty in need of housing with those looking to sublet their space.
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