For people who want to change the world, Nick Leventis has had an unusual journey to becoming a philanthropist. If the name rings a bell it might one of many reasons. It might be his racing career where he is widely renowned for winning the 2010 24 hours of Le Mans. A race in which he broke five records.
Nick Leventis. Photo: Jean Baptiste Fort
Maybe you’ve heard of Strakka Performance – a bespoke driver development program he started to help young aspiring talented drivers. It has seen alumni graduating to the coveted top tiers of motorsports such as the WEC or even F1. Then there is his family name. A member of the Leventis family that owns Coca-Cola bottling plants in 28 countries. Whatever the case maybe he is a philanthropist at heart.
Retiring from motorsports was not easy. Nick describes it as a taxing process, both mentally and physically but at the same time, it allowed him to look at things from a different perspective. “Honestly, retiring has given me a much clearer picture of what my priorities are, and the sacrifices I’ve been making in other areas of my life,” he adds. His current focus is spending time with his family and helping others, something he is no stranger to.
Nick Leventis. Photo: Jean Baptiste Fort
To help others improve he is currently building the “Uprising Center” which he describes us as a cutting edge, boutique human performance facility. The center aims to provide athletes with the tools and experience they need to shatter their perceived limits. As a professional athlete, Nick has his fair share of experience preparing for competitions and he wants to leverage this knowledge to create something unique: “I’ve visited some of the best training facilities in the world and I sometimes find them very clinical, like a medical facility. I don’t want that at all, I love warm friendly environments, I hate egos, and I want to create a human performance center with a soul.”
The center is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Another venture with which he wants to help others and raise awareness is the “Uprise project”. In his words: “The project aims to inspire and elevate consciousness and awareness in any possible way.” As he sees it the younger generation has mastered inspiration and if people can harness it to do something meaningful, then it’s worth investing in. He hopes that the project will evolve into a series of events that will both inspire people and help raise awareness about the issues the world faces today.
Follow Nick on Instagram
