Ongoing 2025 Highlights
VentureWell Ecosystem Futures Fellowship Cohort
We’re excited to share that Jaclyn Mothupi, MS, PEM, LEED AP, Director of Social Innovation at The Wond’ry, has been selected as part of the inaugural Ecosystem Futures Fellowship cohort!
Representing Vanderbilt University & Meharry Medical College alongside Evelina Naish, they’re focused on a bold vision:
Better Together: Accelerating Sustainable Technology Commercialization Through Inter-Institutional Collaboration.
Over the next year, Jaclyn and the full cohort of 26 leaders from 18 institutions will work to strengthen STEM innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) in higher education, advancing new models of venture development through partnerships across academia, government, and industry.
Thank you to The Lemelson Foundation and VentureWell for supporting this important work driving the future of innovation. Meet the full cohort and learn more.
SXSW Cohort is headed to Austin!
The 2nd Mid-South Hub SXSW Immersive Cohort will land in Austin, Texas for the conference on March 8th. Cohort participants will spend a week refining their innovations, conducting customer discovery, and connecting with industry leaders, mentors, and peers—all against the backdrop of the world’s premier festival for creativity and technology. In addition, you will find participants this year, networking at the TN House events, which will be produced by Launch TN. The 33 participants this year are coming from over 7 universities and are a great mix of both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Annual Green-A-Thon
Congrats to the 1st place winners of the Green-A-Thon, Vanderbilt Green Fund’s annual pitch competition. Students with ideas to improve sustainability on campus were given an opportunity to propose green initiatives and compete for a share of the $150,000 Green Fund, which finances these student-led projects.
The winning team presented “Plastic-Free Laundry Detergent Sheet Refill Stations,” and was developed by Junior Layne Foeder as well as seniors Ellie Crone and Jeremy Tallon. Click here to learn more.
Celebrating Yesenia Sevilla's Feature
Celebrating Yesi Sevilla
Yesi Sevilla, former Director of Strategic Engagement and Ecosystem Development at the Wond’ry, has long been a champion of mentorship and innovation.
Now, Yesi is charting her own new path as CEO of Chalk, a groundbreaking venture redefining early childhood education. Featured recently by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center in “Reinventing Education and Redefining Mentorship”, Yesi is leading the charge to equip preschool educators with modern, research-backed tools to foster creativity and curiosity in the classroom.
We’re so proud to see Yesi continue her impact, transforming both how we educate the next generation—and how we support those who guide them.
the Wond'ry has a new knitting machine
Take a sneak peek at an upcoming workshop that you could participate in soon! One of the Wond'ry HOD Capstone students, Paige Givens, has been hard at work learning how to use and design on this new machine. Workshops are in the works, so stay tuned for more info after Spring break.
Celebrating Kavya Sharman and the Future of Innovation at Frontiers 2025
Huge congratulations to Wond’ry Founder alumna Kavya Sharman of Phase Capital for hosting the second annual Frontiers 2025 conference!
Bringing together investors, founders, and thought leaders from 43 cities, 19 states, and 3 countries, this year’s event tackled some of the most exciting frontiers of innovation — from AI breakthroughs and next-gen therapeutics to the future of space-based biotech.
At the heart of it all? Building meaningful connections. With live music, an opera performance, microgreens tasting, and a pitch showcase, the Frontiers team created an experience that fused creativity, community, and bold ideas.
We’re so proud to celebrate Kavya and her work to push the boundaries of what’s possible!
Miles, Smiles, and Hot Chocolate
Several Wond’ry staff members have recently formed a Wond’ry Running Club, getting together for regular runs around campus. Earlier this month, some members took part in Nashville's Hot Chocolate Run, both as participants and volunteers, representing The Wond’ry out on the course and in the community.
Climate Innovation Accelerator kicks off their 3rd cohort
The Climate Innovation Accelerator (CIA) has kicked off its 3rd cohort! This group of participants is working on real solutions to today’s climate challenges with actual clients. Excited to see what they’ll achieve! Learn more about this program.
the Wond'ry Basketball Team
Several staff at the Wond'ry stepped on the court this semester, to join the Vanderbilt University’s Staff-Letics Program for their 3v3 Basketball League. This was a great way to play basketball while bonding with colleagues and staying active in the new year.
The IBM Enterprise Design Thinking program launches
This semester's participants are working alongside Bridgestone Firestone, to apply design thinking solutions to help tackle the challenge of how to design a store within a store. Click here to learn more about this program.
Alexandra Sargent Capps, the Wond'ry Fiber Arts Build Director is working with artist Yael Vishnizki-Levi, with the help of Maker Tech Isabel Soliman, on creating giant patchwork curtains for Yael's opening next Thursday, February 13th.
In the past year, Yael Vishnizki-Levi has been exploring the first footprints her child has made in this world. The product of automatic and impulsive actions, these footprints seem to originate in an unlocalized realm in which creative energies are not dictated by artistic concepts and agendas. They are a production of an intimate choreography contained by our domestic space and routines of caregiving resonating with artistic references. The banging of metal spoons on the dining table makes inscriptions in the wood and echoes noisily in the room. Levi began documenting them, reflecting on the poetics and possible mediums of this process. These “birthmarks” have marked an interweaving of motherhood and artist practice.
The Reception will be on Thursday, Feb. 13th, from 3-5 PM at the EBI Studio Arts Center, Room 204
