Meet Our Team
Izzy Mokotoff
Co-Founder & CEO
Izzy is a junior at Northwestern University studying journalism, entrepreneurship and marketing. Izzy’s responsibilities include business-model development, grant application, public relations, and communication with key stakeholders. As the granddaughter of a person with Stage Three Parkinson’s, her lived experiences and relationships make her personally motivated to accomplish the SteadyScrib mission. In her free time, Izzy enjoys cooking with friends and attending Northwestern Hillel events.
Alexis Chan
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer
Alexis is a junior at Northwestern University studying Biomedical Engineering. As chief engineer, Alexis specializes in R&D including CAD product design, 3D printing, material science and beta testing. In her free time, Alexis enjoys playing tennis, basketball, golf and competes in triathlons. She volunteers as a one-on-one English tutoring working with Ukrainian students, and also serves as a Northwestern peer-guided student tutor.
Briana Segal
Director of Manufacturing and Development
Briana is a junior at Northwestern University studying Mechanical Engineering with an Aerospace concentration and a Leadership certificate. As an engineer in NASA’s SIRIUS mission focusing on team dynamics in high-stress or remote environments, she is able to provide insight on human interaction with a technical lens. As an executive engineer, Briana passionately contributes to the CAD modeling, technical writing, and materials selection process for SteadyScrib. This summer Briana is working on the US Army’s VICTOR project at Aberdeen Proving ground in The Materials Science Tribology Lab.
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PRIYA DAVE
Director of Research and Testing
Priya is a junior at Northwestern University studying Biomedical Engineering with a minor in legal studies. As an executive engineer, Priya specializes in technical writing and scientific research and assists in design iteration. She currently works full-time as an engineering intern at EdgeOne Medical, a cutting-edge medical device consulting company. Priya is interested in the field of patent law and hopes to learn more about intellectual property through SteadyScrib. In her free time, Priya enjoys playing volleyball and tennis and also serves as a Northwestern peer-guided student tutor.
Bella Gonzales-Portillo
Director of Expansion and Development
Bella is a junior at Northwestern University pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. In her spare time, Bella enjoys baking, traveling, and spending time with her friends. Within SteadyScrib, Bella focuses on clinical research, CAD modeling, and product development. Bella has previous medical experience through clinical research and working in the medical device industry.
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Jamison Stout
Director of Outreach & Communication
Jamison is a junior at Northwestern University studying Social Policy with a minor in Cognitive Science. As Director of the Outreach and Comms team, Jamison manages public relations, maintains relationships with partners, and spearheads the grant application process. After graduation, Jamison is interested in pursuing a career in law. She is excited about filling the quality of life gap for people with Parkinson’s disease through female-led entrepreneurship.
Our Advisors
Casey Grage
Mentor
CEO Casey Grage founded neurosurgical device startup Hubly Surgical as a result of her long family history of neurological disease. In just two years, she has won top prizes at over 10 international pitch competitions, secured government grants, solidified several hospital partnerships, hired full-time team, and raised seed investment to bring the Hubly Drill from ideation to launch. Prior to founding Hubly, she researched Parkinson’s disease for five years in neuroscience labs, built neuro-implantable devices in a bioengineering lab, analyzed neurosurgical data with Northwestern physicians, and worked as a software engineer within JP Morgan’s big data department. Grage is a Washington Business Journal 25 under 25 awardee.
Hayes Ferguson
Principal Investigator
Ferguson directs the Farley Center, including curriculum design, faculty development, alumni engagement, student mentorship and partnerships on campus and beyond. She teaches a wide range of entrepreneurship and innovation classes and serves on the executive advisory board of the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. Before joining Farley in 2020, Ferguson spent five years at The Garage, Northwestern University's student startup incubator, as an entrepreneur in residence and associate director. Earlier in her career, Hayes was a project writer at PEOPLE magazine and the Latin America bureau chief for The Times-Picayune and Newhouse News.