Jolene Levin has made it her mission to reprogram education systems around the world to make them work for all learners. Here she outlines how she’s doing so by helping people move away from the traditional ways of thinking that, sadly, left some behind.
Meet Jolene Levin—co-founder of NorvalNivel, an innovative K-12 furniture design company—who has such an incredible story of perseverance, strength and dedication that I knew upon meeting her at NeoCon that I had to tell it.
I would be remiss if I didn’t start with her undying passion for equity in the education market. It’s her passion to ensure that all learners, regardless of their background or circumstances, are given every opportunity to thrive in their educational journey.
“I believe in breaking down barriers, challenging conventional wisdom, and constantly innovating to create inclusive, empowering learning experiences that meet every learner where they are,” she said.
After meeting her husband, an industrial designer, they decided to start their own business (when she was eight months pregnant no less.) Installing into homes and offices at first, their first education job was a delivery of very high-end chairs to a Christian school in Australia, where a conversation with the principal changed their trajectory for good.
“We opened up the back of the truck and he turned around and said, ‘You know, this is not the type of furniture that we want at all,’ and proceeded to point out there are no furniture companies providing pieces that facilitate collaborative learning environments.”
Intrigued, they said “well maybe we can help you.”
His only directive was his desire to create booths at the back of his eighth-grade classroom, so his first order was of 50 double seater couches.
“We delivered them and a week later he called us and said ‘You need to come back. The most incredible things are happening. The kids that were struggling, coming in late and disengaged are ready to learn,” she explained.
The business snowballed from there, with schools finally starting to focus on the problem, not the product.
“Because if we understand the problem we’re actually solving for—movement, choice and ownership over their space—and we understand what that means from a design perspective, we’re going to be able to create the high impact environments that kids don’t have to push out on, they can push in, and that normalizes differences. That changes the social dynamic for kids inside these spaces. And it became very emotional to see how we were helping the kids who were struggling,” she explained.
And it was from here that their mission statement was born. Here it is (in part):
I hold firm to the conviction that thoughtfully designed products and intentionally curated spaces are crucial in nurturing engagement and fostering agency among learners. When crafted with purpose, these environments have the potential to elevate the learning experience, inspiring individuals to reach heights they may have never imagined possible.
By combining intentional design, human-centered thinking, and a commitment to inclusive transformation, we can create educational experiences that not only impart knowledge but also ignite passion, foster creativity, and empower individuals to shape their own futures. I believe that designing with this intention connects us to learning as a personal journey, unique to each individual, and encourages a design approach that encompasses the diverse needs of all learners.
Fast forward to 2017 and the two moved their family to Dallas. They attended Edspaces that same year and were embraced by the industry much faster than she expected. But one question from customers began to inspire her to learn even more about the world she was trying to change.
“Immediately they would said ‘Well how do you know? If you expect us to go and spend X amount of dollars on something, how do you know that it’s going to work?’ So that question became very important to me, and I started to really get into the research around neuroscience, environmental behavioral science, psychology, physiology, and what that looked like inside the learning environment so that I could speak to people from that platform. Because the research does exist,” Levin said.
The struggle becomes connecting the research with the design, and having to tell teachers they need to break years-long habits and ways of operating like cluttering the walls, closing the blinds. “I feel like we need to get this out there, because if people knew more, they would do better.”
Levin identifies her proudest achievement thus far as helping to develop Edmarket’s Certified Learning Place Specialist (ECLPS) research-informed certification program for school district and industry professionals tasked with planning, managing, and designing learning environments of the future. Her hope is that the certification—authored by Dr. Lennie Scott-Webber, owner, INSYNC: Education Research + Design—will raise the bar in that industry so that anyone providing any type of solution when it comes to learning spaces is doing so with knowledge.
It's a three-level program that can earn professionals 30+ AIA LU and HSW credits. Those three levels include:
Foundations: Change the “why” to a future-focused vision by ensuring the guidelines are implemented into decision-making protocols for interior architectural/interior design solutions across an educational campus at levels for all learning spaces.
Performance-Based Design: Change the “how” by generating a vision which defines the reimagined institution’s strategic plans and culture.
Implementation & Management: Change the “what” by managing the planning, processes, alignment, and implementation by integrating the components, plus policy/codes into the visioning for any upfit, renovation, or new project.
She believes these three domains need to come together in order for all of us to be on the same page, because “if a kid walks into a classroom and cannot see themselves and their identity in there, they feel disconnected and there’s mental and emotional problems with that and how they feel about coming to school. We just want to make sure that we are creating environments that are meeting every kid where they’re at.”
You can learn more about the ECLPS certification here: https://www.edmarket.org/eclps/. And if you’re a woman in the education market, a good place to start getting involved is the Bold Women Collective, powered by EdMarket: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14404325/.
ABOUT MICHELLE WARREN
Founder, President - Catalyst Consulting Group
Michelle Warren is President of Catalyst Consulting Group, a firm specializing in providing strategic solutions to the commercial furniture industry to enhance their sales, positioning, and distribution. With 25 years of industry experience on the dealer and manufacturer side of the industry, Michelle has been recognized as an innovator in selling to the Federal Government, State/ Local Government, Higher Education and Cooperative Purchasing. Her expertise includes: sales strategies, strategic planning, 3-5 year road mapping, targeted marketing plans, distribution development, hiring reps, and training for reps and/or dealers. Michelle is known as a “serial networker” in the furniture industry and enjoys meeting people and making connections happen.
If you’re interested in connecting - reach out at: [email protected], connect on LinkedIn or visit www.strategic-catalyst.com to learn more about her work.
As seen in Delve | August 2024