Meet a Member: Shiven Shah ’99

Summer 2024 NULC Newsletter

Published May 28,2024

Shiven Shah remembers sitting in his Elder Hall dorm room feeling stressed, conflicted, and anxious.

Entering Northwestern University as a chemistry major, Shah put himself on the medical school track to meet his parents’ expectations, which proved to be a heavy burden. He struggled in organic chemistry, with low exam marks and wayward experiments, and was far more intrigued by business than science. Shah—the first in his family to attend a US college—worried about disappointing his parents.

“I was really forcing myself into something that was not who I was,” says Shah, a Chicago-area native who was drawn to Northwestern for its academic reputation as well as its diverse and inclusive culture.

Shah confided in his roommate, Atit Desai ’99, a longtime family friend who understood the parental pressure Shah was experiencing. Providing counsel and support, and even offering to help talk to Shah’s parents, Desai shared motivating words.

“You and I both know this is not what your passion is and you’re going to need to live your life in the most meaningful way,” Desai told his friend.

Thereafter, Shah endured a series of tough conversations with his parents. He detailed his rationale and outlined his plans. His parents’ initial opposition slowly surrendered to understanding, and Shah made the liberating switch to economics. While the liberal arts proved a welcoming home for Shah’s analytical, inquisitive mind, summer internships confirmed his interest in business.

“There’s no right path for everyone,” Shah says. “The path for everyone is sort of internal happiness, and that only comes with time and going after what you’re passionate about.”

Since graduating from Northwestern, Shah has thrived in the business world. He’s worked in investment banking on Wall Street and for global enterprises like Citibank, earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and endured the Great Recession before returning to Chicago in 2011 as a new father bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.

Over the last 13 years, Shah has applied skills learned at large corporations to upstart, mission-driven organizations such as OppFi, which provides credit access to the millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, and Libra Solutions, which helps vulnerable populations navigate the consumer litigation process.

“I got to a point in my career where I really wanted to do something more influential in helping people,” says Shah, who has served as Libra’s chief financial officer since August 2022.

Shah’s desire to generate impact extends beyond his professional life and touches his alma mater, the place where he began formulating his life’s mission with encouragement from Desai and other allies. An ardent volunteer and supporter of Northwestern, Shah sits on the NULC Chicago Regional Board and is also a member of the Alumni Admission Council. To mark his 25th reunion year, Shah has joined his reunion committee and made a $50,000 pledge as a CATSGiveBack matching gift challenger.

“Northwestern creates better human beings,” Shah says. “I want to put my time and resources into organizations aligned with that core set of values, which are selflessness, collaboration, giving to others, diversity, and making sure that at the end of the day we are one unified society.”