Levy Inspiration Grant Program

Luna Yamashita and Aman Vijay began their friendship journey as neighbors. Little did they know that some time later, they’d be halfway across the world doing hands-on research together. Both share a deep passion for mental health and wellbeing, but when they also connected over their desire to support underserved populations in developing countries, their entrepreneurship journey began its course. This collective passion led them to travel to Kenya to investigate the country’s mental health needs, centered around an employee wellbeing app idea that they had been dreaming up. Along the way, their initial assumptions were tested and challenged, leading to unexpected learnings on their journey.

This is their Inspiration Grant story.

Learn more about the Levy Inspiration Grant Program on the program's webpage here: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/entrepreneurship/levy-inspiration-grants
Learn more about the Entrepreneurship at Kellogg program at kell.gg/entrepreneurship
Produced, written and edited by Tyler Seybold
Hosted by Tyler Seybold
Special thanks to our featured students Luna Yamashita and Aman Vijay
Background music by Blue Dot Sessions

Entrepreneurship is built into Lucy Grierson's heritage, so when she came to Kellogg, she wanted to use her time away from full-time work to dive into her creative side and further explore her entrepreneurial potential. After some soul-searching on the type of company she saw herself building, the idea to create a denim brand based on the values of the American West came to her, combining her experience with embroidery and her love of U.S. Western ideals and culture. For her Inspiration Grant, she set out on a mission to Colorado and Wyoming to answer the question: what values does the American West stand for, and how might you represent that in an apparel brand?
Learn more about the Levy Inspiration Grant Program on the program's webpage here: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/entrepreneurship/levy-inspiration-grants
Learn more about the Entrepreneurship at Kellogg program at kell.gg/entrepreneurship
Produced, written and edited by Tyler Seybold
Hosted by Tyler Seybold
Special thanks to our featured student, Lucy Grierson
Background music by Blue Dot Sessions

Ever since attending an arts elementary school as a kid, Noelle Harasym has had a deep love for art and artists. More recently, she wanted to investigate how artists create sustainable careers for themselves in a tumultuous and challenging societal environment. On top of that, new tech and AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E, which threaten to displace working artists, have heightened the urgency to find ways to support them.
For her Inspiration Grant trip, Noelle traveled to a few cities in Europe to meet artists and see how they're promoting their work through tech platforms and overall keeping themselves going. Along the way, she picks up lessons on empathy, the complex nature of artists and tech platforms, and what it takes to be a working artist.
Learn more about the Levy Inspiration Grant Program on the program's webpage here: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/entrepreneurship/levy-inspiration-grants
Learn more about the Entrepreneurship at Kellogg program at kell.gg/entrepreneurship.
Below are a list of links shared by Noelle, featuring the artists, studios, and collectives she visited during her trip:
- Marcus McAllister, artist, Paris (https://www.marcusmcallister.com/)
- Rivoli 59, artist residency, Paris (https://www.59rivoli.org/homepage/)
- Margaret Hunter, artist, Berlin (https://margaret-hunter.com/)
- Haus Schwarzenberg, studio and gallery space, Berlin (https://haus-schwarzenberg.org/)
- Coung’s Creative Market, print store, Berlin (https://www.cuongscreativemarket.com/)
- Let it Bleed, print store, Berlin (https://www.letitbleedberlin.com/)
- Alternative arts tour, street art tour, Berlin (https://alternativeberlin.com/berlin-tours/street-art-tour/)
- Copenhagen outsider art gallery, Copenhagen (https://coag.dk/)
Produced, written and edited by Tyler Seybold
Hosted by Tyler Seybold
Special thanks to our featured guest, Noelle Harasym
Background music by Blue Dot Sessions

Garrett was the kind of kid that loved animals and nature. While that interest took a back seat for a number of years, he eventually came back around to it with a lingering question: what can he do to help with the numerous challenges the world is facing due to climate change? To explore this area further, he traveled to Australia to speak with researchers and innovators who are creating and discovering new ways of healing the world’s climate.

Learn more about the Entrepreneurship at Kellogg program at kell.gg/entrepreneurship.

Produced, written, edited, and mixed by Tyler Seybold

Hosted by Tyler Seybold

Special thanks to our guest, Garrett Nastarin

Background music by Blue Dot Sessions

When Julia Ha and Mohit Patel were introduced to the concept of microgrids in developing countries as a way to address electricity access, they were intrigued to learn more about a market opportunity that also positively impacted a huge, unaddressed population. Later, as they began to explore the topic more deeply, they eventually decided that the best way to go deeper was to speak directly to their potential consumers and current companies trying to address this issue. For their Inspiration Grant, they traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia, and along the way, they learned that things were more complicated than they anticipated and a one-size-fits-all approach was not the way to go.
Show Notes:
- Productive Use of Electricity: https://energypedia.info/wiki/Productive_Use_of_Electricity
- What is a microgrid?: https://www.microgridknowledge.com/about-microgrids/article/11429017/what-is-a-microgrid
Learn more about the Levy Inspiration Grant Program on the program's webpage here: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/entrepreneurship/levy-inspiration-grants
Learn more about the Entrepreneurship at Kellogg program at kell.gg/entrepreneurship
Produced, written and edited by Tyler Seybold
Hosted by Tyler Seybold
Special thanks to our featured students, Julia Ha and Mohit Patel
Background music by Blue Dot Sessions