Innovator Stories
Anyone who works with Lever works with Avril Levesque. As Lever’s communications manager, she’s often the first point of contact.
In summer 2018, the Adams, Massachusetts native interned at MountainOne Bank in North Adams through Lever’s Berkshire Interns program. That ultimately led to her being hired at Lever, where she draws on her professional experience to coordinate events, keep in touch with constituents, emcee Challenges, and make sure all of Lever’s audiences have the information they need.
Innovator Stories
Meet Avril Levesque
Anyone who works with Lever works with Avril Levesque. As Lever’s communications manager, she’s often the first point of contact.
In summer 2018, the Adams, Massachusetts native interned at MountainOne Bank in North Adams through Lever’s Berkshire Interns program. That ultimately led to her being hired at Lever, where she draws on her professional experience to coordinate events, keep in touch with constituents, emcee Challenges, and make sure all of Lever’s audiences have the information they need.
After graduation, an email survey sent to BI alumni led to mentorship from Lever—when Levesque indicated she’d like help with finding full-time work in the Berkshires, the staff helped her refine her resume and locate job interviews, including for a communications position on the Lever team. Now, she creates promotional materials for Lever, helps manage its pitch Challenges, works with vendors, and has even helped facilitate Berkshire Interns events, like a trip to the ropes course at Ramblewild.
A 2019 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, Levesque was an active volunteer in college, serving as president of the ECSU People Helping People Club. A community engagement internship at MountainOne was a great fit. “MountainOne is very outward-facing and involved with the community,” she said, “so I was the face of MountainOne when they put on events.” She coordinated swag giveaways for local baseball games, assembled staff to walk in Williamstown’s Fourth of July parade, and made sure MountainOne was represented at North Adams’ annual Downtown Celebration, working alongside Vice President of Community Engagement Kelli Kozak.
From MountainOne to the other BI interns to getting to know the Lever staff, “the most important takeaway were the connections I made,” she said. “I got to know a lot of great people.”
As a Berkshire native, Levesque says she’s happy to be part of a team working to grow economic development in Western Massachusetts.
“Growing up here, I wanted to give back as much as I could,” she said. “My family’s here. I knew I wanted to stay here. I’m really excited about the growth we’re seeing in the region, and about how Lever is contributing to that.”
After graduation, an email survey sent to BI alumni led to mentorship from Lever—when Levesque indicated she’d like help with finding full-time work in the Berkshires, the staff helped her refine her resume and locate job interviews, including for a communications position on the Lever team. Now, she creates promotional materials for Lever, helps manage its pitch Challenges, works with vendors, and has even helped facilitate Berkshire Interns events, like a trip to the ropes course at Ramblewild.
A 2019 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, Levesque was an active volunteer in college, serving as president of the ECSU People Helping People Club. A community engagement internship at MountainOne was a great fit. “MountainOne is very outward-facing and involved with the community,” she said, “so I was the face of MountainOne when they put on events.” She coordinated swag giveaways for local baseball games, assembled staff to walk in Williamstown’s Fourth of July parade, and made sure MountainOne was represented at North Adams’ annual Downtown Celebration, working alongside Vice President of Community Engagement Kelli Kozak.
From MountainOne to the other BI interns to getting to know the Lever staff, “the most important takeaway were the connections I made,” she said. “I got to know a lot of great people.”
As a Berkshire native, Levesque says she’s happy to be part of a team working to grow economic development in Western Massachusetts.
“Growing up here, I wanted to give back as much as I could,” she said. “My family’s here. I knew I wanted to stay here. I’m really excited about the growth we’re seeing in the region, and about how Lever is contributing to that.”