Each xLab student project team includes a project coach who is an industry professional, to help mentor and guide through the different stages of a client project. Lauren Nelson has been a project coach with xLab since the fall semester of 2021. This spring semester, she is serving as a coach on two xLab projects—Phase 2 of a project with Hyland Software involving blockchain, as well as the robotics project.
An alumna of Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, Nelson (MGT '18) earned her MBA with a focus on design and innovation. She is a product strategist at Level20, Progressive's incubator for new digital non-insurance businesses, and has previously worked developing digital products in new mobility for the New Ventures group at Goodyear.
Having past experience as a teacher with Teach For America, Nelson was excited about the opportunity to coach students on company-sponsored digital innovation projects with xLab, and thought it felt like a natural "best of both worlds" fit.
“I love seeing students learn through doing,” said Nelson. “It's impressive to see how far they can take xLab projects and to see the delight that the companies experience at the end of a semester, especially when they're used to a certain pace within a corporate innovation space.”