By Jaime Wood-Riley
“What would it look like if your campus innovation plan wildly succeeded?” That was the prompt that kicked off two days of strategy, storytelling, and connection at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. In June, VentureWell’s higher education team convened 26 Ecosystem Futures Fellows from across the country for their first On-Campus Immersive Experience (OCIE), a core component of the inaugural program. These OCIEs combine regional and campus innovation tours, expert and student panel discussions, and hands-on workshops to support the fellows’ STEM innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem work. The agenda for the faculty, staff, and administrators from various college campuses? Explore what it really takes to grow inclusive I&E ecosystems inside and beyond university walls.
Drawn from 18 institutions across the country, the fellows represent a diverse mix of faculty and campus leaders from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions, regional public universities, and equity-driven campuses. Each two-person team receives $35,000 in funding—$10,000 in program support and a $7,500 travel stipend per fellow—and participates in a year-long immersive fellowship combining on-campus convenings, peer learning, and collaborative ecosystem action planning.
Their first OCIE included two days of workshops, panels, conversations with students, a tour of Dillard University’s STEM I&E offerings, and a New Orleans innovation tour that left the fellows inspired and ready to get to work on their own STEM I&E ecosystem growth action plans.
At the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, fellows heard from Dr. Robin Forman, provost of Tulane University, about bold plans to revitalize the region’s innovation ecosystem by reimagining the historic Charity Hospital project.
Fellows also toured The Beach at the University of Louisiana (UNO), a premier research and technology park bringing together academia, government, and entrepreneurs to drive climate innovation. Fellows learned about the Louisiana Wind Energy Hub and the Wind Scholars Program. A highlight of the visit was the live demonstration of the wave tank housed in the Boysie Bollinger School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, which sits at the intersection of climate science and design.
The next stop was the Nieux Society, a creative and collaborative hub built with pieces from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which serves as a gathering space for early-stage entrepreneurs, investors, and academics working to expand New Orleans’ I&E footprint. Fellows learned about the space’s history and how it is used to grow entrepreneurship in New Orleans.
“Being able to visit locations and see ecosystems is a powerful learning experience,” said Dr. Maribel Guerrero, a fellow from Arizona State University. “The diversity of different ecosystem experiences was important.” In a moment where higher education and innovation are at a crossroads, this fellowship couldn’t be more timely. Fellows echoed what we all felt: This is a historic moment to build a safe space for collaboration and bold ideas.
What truly stood out wasn’t the cuisine, though the beignets and gumbo were memorable; it was the candid, high-stakes conversations about transforming institutional culture.
“This was such a great experience,” said fellow Dr. Jason Black, Florida A&M University (FAMU). “I learned a lot from my colleagues here and have used what I learned to further enhance the ideas for the FAMU Ecosystem development. Can’t wait til the next one!”
Whether discussing how to better support tech transfer, redesign curricula to integrate innovation, or drive faculty policy reform, fellows leaned into shared problem-solving.
It was exciting to see institutions from different regions discussing how to create new patenting opportunities, develop community partnerships to solve problems related to food insecurity or ocean resiliency, and encourage policy changes that would allow I&E work to count toward promotion and tenure on campus.
The fellows bring their lived experience, regional perspective, and a commitment to embedding equity into every layer of their campus innovation work. From rural-serving campuses to urban HBCUs, the teams are working to strengthen the infrastructure and visibility of STEM I&E in ways that are locally grounded and nationally relevant.
The experience began with a bold prompt: What would it look like if their goals were fully realized in three to five years? Fellows shared bold but institutionally grounded visions, such as:
- Uniting medical students and STEM innovators to develop healthcare solutions for underserved communities
- Transforming a fragmented regional ecosystem into a nationally recognized hub for tackling climate, health, and tech challenges
- Embedding innovation and entrepreneurship across computer science curricula, with ties to tenure and promotion criteria
- Expanding cross-disciplinary collaboration and student engagement to drive real-world problem solving
- Building sustainable I&E initiatives that address food insecurity, ocean resiliency, and equity on and off campus
The intentional urgency and alignment of the in-person convening carried through every workshop, panel, and peer exchange. The takeaway was clear: The future of university innovation depends on cross-campus trust, institutional imagination, and space to build both.
With fresh ideas and sharper goals, fellows have returned to their campuses to refine their institutional action plans. Monthly virtual Community of Practice meetings will provide continued support and accountability until the fellows reconvene in Atlanta, Georgia, this October for the second on-campus immersive experience. There, they’ll move from ideation to implementation—bringing tested strategies, new questions, and lived experience back into the fold.
Jaime Wood-Riley is senior program officer at VentureWell, working on the higher education catalyst team.