Savvy Financial - UI/UX Designer

Savvy Financial is a digital app that helps people create a financial plan without needing a financial advisor.  

Through the Level UP remote internship program, the CEO and founder of Savvy Financial, Ralph Maamari, partnered with Ashleigh Liu to design the user interface for the Savvy Financial platform. 

Ashleigh, a computer science student at the University of Toronto, took the written workflow and implemented the Savvy Financial mobile app design. 

After struggling to land internships, this Level UP opportunity was a gamer changer for Ashleigh. “I was struggling with getting internships, so I thought doing a project with Level UP would be an excellent experience for me and help me get a foot in the door of the industry.” 

Ashleigh was able to use her school knowledge to create the user interface for the Savvy. “I took a few courses about human-computer interaction, which is how people interact with apps and how to make apps easy for people to use. So with this knowledge, I could design a more human-centered app.”

Ralph and his company intentionally invested in the Level UP students, which helped his business thrive. “Because we have invested so much time and mentorship in creating documentation and our specialized onboarding guide, I know we have a unique Level UP experience. So the students are always very grateful, and we're always thrilled to provide that. Level UP is a great experience for them. They get constant feedback and experience app production from end to end that is used in our business. They get all their work from the project. We give them career advice and even do resume reviews if they want them.” 

Ashleigh has felt the impact of Ralph's career investment on Level UP students. “I put this experience on my resume, and now it feels like that big empty experience gap that used to be on there has been filled. When I go to interviews for positions, people ask me specifically about this project, and I tell them all that I did. They’re pretty impressed with my work at Savvy Financial.” 

Ralph can’t impress upon fellow entrepreneurs how vital a program like Level UP is for businesses and students. “I’ve worked with hundreds of students and seen a gap between what they’re learning in school and what they need to know for the industry. That’s where programs like Level UP can make a huge life-changing difference in a student's career trajectory. And for my company, we are building long-term connections with potential future employees. We already know they are talented and hard-working because of what they have achieved through Level UP.”

Ashleigh is grateful she found Level UP and hopes other students will have a similar experience. “Honestly, I have nothing but positive things to say about the program. I see no downsides. It’s an outstanding program. I would even say it's life-changing because, for many students, it's tough to get that first work experience on the resume. I know it’s helped me a lot, and I hope it will also help other students.” 

Thank you to Ashleigh Liu for sharing her experience on Riipen. To learn more about how you can get started with the Level UP remote internship program as a student or employer, visit the website here. ‍Stay updated with the latest in higher education, experiential learning, and the future of work, and subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, The Riipen Report.

Riipen Level UP program is funded by the Government of Canada's Innovative Work-Integrated Learning (I-WIL) Initiatives program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

‍