Elara’s Experts – Today’s Spotlight: Katelyn Beck

She also is heavily involved in staff development and the management of employee benefits including compensation, training, and recognition as well as collaborating with Program Leads to champion Elara’s Volunteer and Mentorship programs. 

Previous to Katelyn’s role as Operations Manager, she was Operations Coordinator (2017-2020) and started her career as a CAD Technician (2015-2017) for Elara Engineering.  

Her Areas of Expertise

• Team Management
• Company Operations
• Process Improvement and Efficiency
• Sales and Marketing Support
• Resource Management
• Employee Engagement
• Human Resources

Ms. Beck is driven by…

…the opportunity to contribute to an organization whose vision of designing a sustainable future resonates far beyond engineering – extending to the cultivation of a company culture where individuals feel valued, supported, and empowered to reach their highest potential, and where operational excellence, innovation, and integrity are interdependent goals.  

Throughout her career, she has remained deeply committed to championing employee development and engagement, believing that an organization’s strength lies in its people and their ability to grow in ways that are personally meaningful and strategically aligned with organizational objectives. As Operations Manager, she sees it as her core responsibility to ensure Elara scales effectively and sustainably, while preserving the culture and values that have long defined its success. 

Key Company Contributions

• Expanded and significantly enhanced Elara’s summer internship program when she assumed management oversight of it several years ago. Since expanding the program, 40 interns have completed Elara’s program with numerous individuals joining the firm upon graduation from college. The highly successful program maximizes each intern’s engagement and learning opportunities through weekly intern team huddles, weekly technical training sessions conducted by members of leadership, project tours, and an intern-led end of summer capstone presentation. Feedback received from individual interns since Katelyn has been involved has confirmed that the program is highly effective, meaningful, insightful, supportive, and valuable. 
• Helped to establish and co-administers Elara’s Employee Focus Group that provides opportunities for staff to express their ideas, champion initiatives and participate in the evolution of Elara’s future while facilitating employee relationships outside of their immediate teams and project-driven groups. Since its establishment, the Employee Focus Group has held quarterly meetings open to all employees and has sponsored companywide cultural events and communications-focused training sessions with numerous additional initiatives recorded for future viewing. 
• Continues to play a pivotal role in Elara’s recruitment efforts in support of the firm’s ongoing growth. Her vision and leadership have been essential to securing many of Elara’s talented and dedicated professionals. Katelyn excels at maintaining a strategic perspective while skillfully navigating the ever-evolving recruiting landscape across all of Elara’s diverse design studios and the broader job market. 
• As the lead designer, Katelyn researched and created software-based benchmarking and performance review process tools to enhance transparency and efficiency and that are continually updated and improved to ensure Elara employees are reviewed wholistically and consistently. 

Key Industry Contributions

Board Trustee, Secretary – St. Charles Park District Foundation 

• The St. Charles Park District Foundation supplements the St. Charles Park District through fundraising initiatives that support capital improvements and financial assistance for local families. As a Board Trustee, Katelyn’s commitment is deeply personal, reflecting a family legacy connected to the park district spanning four generations, including her mother, grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandfather who played a pivotal role in securing WPA funding during the Great Depression to develop St. Charles’ well-known Pottawatomie Park.  

Board Member, Building & Grounds Committee Member – Henry Rockwell Baker Memorial Community Center 

• As a Board Member and Building & Grounds Committee Member, Katelyn contributes to the stewardship and ongoing preservation and modernization of this historic 1926 landmark building to ensure that it continues to serve as a hub for civic, cultural, and social gatherings and meet the evolving needs of the community. 

Member – PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) International, Chapter NN 

• Katelyn actively participates in this philanthropic organization founded in 1869 that is committed to advancing women through education. The organization provides scholarships, grants, and loans to support women in pursuing their academic goals and owns and operates Cottey College in Missouri. 

Member – Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Fox Valley Chapter 

• Katelyn is an active participant in the world’s largest HR professional society focused on best practices in employee development, compliance, and organization leadership.  

What People Are Saying About Katelyn

“Katelyn is a core member of our leadership team and in many ways the heart and soul of our organization. She embodies the values that Elara is built on and continually strives to better not only our company, but all those around her. Katelyn’s loyalty, work ethic, and sincerity are unmatched. Having had the privilege of being by her side since she joined Elara, I am incredibly proud of the strong leader she has become and the indelible mark she continues to leave on our company.”  

– Caitlin Levitsky, Principal, CEO, Treasurer 

Life Before Elara.  

Katelyn’s path toward the AEC industry began early—and with purpose. At just five years old, while working on homework, she told her mother that she had heard at school that girls couldn’t do math. Her mom, an engineering manager at a global technology and manufacturing company, made it her mission to prove otherwise. 

Throughout Katelyn’s life, her parents and grandmother instilled in her a belief that the most fulfilling paths are often the most challenging. They encouraged her to lean into difficulty, see obstacles as opportunities, and pursue what sparked her curiosity—even when it wasn’t easy. Dinner table conversations often centered around work, problem-solving, lessons learned, and goal setting. Building on these conversations, Katelyn later attended numerous “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” events led by her mom, interned at her mom’s company for two summers, and frequently tagged along to work with her grandmother. Surrounded by strong women who had built careers in STEM and business, she didn’t just believe she could succeed in math and science—she began to enjoy the challenge of mastering them. 

Outside the classroom, Katelyn explored a variety of sports and activities before ultimately focusing on competitive swimming. She credits those years in the pool with building her grit, discipline, and determination—qualities that have remained core to her academic and professional journey. She also earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the organization’s highest achievement, reflecting her longstanding commitment to leadership, service, and creating lasting impact in her community. 

Driven by a desire to blend math, science, and art, Katelyn chose to study architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After graduation, she found her way to a career in engineering through her work at Elara Engineering, a firm that uniquely bridges architecture and engineering—allowing her to stay connected to her love of buildings while embracing the engineering world she grew up in. 

Life Before Elara.  

Outside of Elara, Katelyn can frequently be found walking through one of St. Charles’ many scenic parks and riverside trails with her energetic dog, Ted, who keeps her on her toes. A passionate traveler, she loves exploring new countries with family – often visiting her sister and brother-in-law abroad and discovering amazing places along the way. Katelyn is also on a mission to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks. Having already explored 20 of them, it’s a goal she’s steadily chipping away at alongside her mom and Ted through cross-country road trips. When asked which national park is her favorite so far — Acadia in Maine, Glacier Bay in Alaska, Hawaii Volcanoes, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado, and Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota quickly came to mind. Without a doubt, Katelyn is creating quite the travelogue.   

Closer to home, she enjoys putting some miles in on her small fleet of Trek bikes or cycling to local breweries with her boyfriend, Scott. A proud Green Bay Packers shareholder with family season tickets, Katelyn spends many fall weekends tailgating and taking part in cherished Lambeau Field traditions with family and friends. One of her favorite ways to spend time is out on the water—exploring new corners of Lake Michigan’s Green Bay either by pontoon boat or kayak, always with Ted in tow. 

More about Katelyn’s professional abilities and accomplishments can be found here.