Ryan Ren

Tell me a bit about yourself and why you joined LEND?

I’m a rising sophomore at Weinberg, majoring in economics with a minor in philosophy and business institutions. I grew up in Massachusetts so Evanston was a big but good shift and it’s been a great experience here so far.

My parents are small business owners - we run a restaurant - so in high school I spent a lot of time after school working the cash register and helping out. This is a large part of my identity and largely influenced why I joined LEND. It works with a lot of family owned businesses and I wanted the opportunity to support something I am passionate about. It also gave me the chance to learn about the Evanston landscape and develop professional skills that will come in handy later on.

What do you do at LEND?

I joined LEND in October last year (2019) but I got really involved over the summer. Earlier, I worked with Natalia on a Google Ads campaign for LEND and right now I’m working with Kevin on Claire’s Korner. This is my first official client engagement so it’s great to kick this off. I’m also helping think through more personalized ways to our support clients which we can hopefully roll out in the coming weeks.

What is something that has stood out to you in your work so far?

Everyone at LEND is incredibly driven and organized. It is reflected in how we communicate with each other, our commitment to the work, and how seriously we take deadlines. Each of us cares about making our clients feel comfortable reaching out to anyone at LEND not just their account managers. LEND is a truly inclusive organization - we want to make sure everyone is involved. 

What is an opportunity you would like LEND to unlock?

I would love to deepen the engagement between Northwestern and the Evanston community. This includes ideas such as collaborating with the athletic teams to support new business development, getting students to step out beyond their bubble, and promoting parts of the city beyond Downtown. One idea I find interesting is students working directly with local businesses. I’m also looking forward to deepening my own involvement over time by learning about all the work that LEND does so I can grow as well.

How can we help support LEND?

Especially as we’re deepening our social media presence, people can help us be more vocal about our purpose and the organizations we support. I would like the community to draw on our extended knowledge of Evanston businesses and take a moment to understand how much they offer towards improving peoples’ lives. NU is a very large part of Evanston but it’s not all of it; I would love to see their interaction deepen.

Wrap up: How do you spend your free time (if any)?

I’ve always loved basketball and tennis. I still try to get out as much as I can and play or stay in touch with nature. I’ve been keeping myself busy with sport so I’m excited to see leagues open up slowly! I am also thinking about how to engage in this at NU including maybe through a Sports Analytics class.