Written by: Bryn Erickson ’27, Yale Ventures Summer Associate for Innovation Community

At the heart of Yale Ventures is a belief that great ideas deserve the chance to grow and make an impact. This summer, that belief comes to life through the 2025 Summer Associates cohort. These 20 ambitious student innovators have joined the Yale Ventures team to help shape the future of innovation at Yale. Each brings a distinct background and set of skills, contributing to a dynamic ecosystem where new ideas can take root and thrive.

Throughout the summer, these students are not just observing how innovation moves from concept to application—they're helping to drive it. As Yale Ventures Summer Associates, they contribute across diverse fields, working to translate groundbreaking research into real-world impact and to strengthen Yale’s connections with the industries it influences. The program includes a weekly Lunch & Learn series featuring founders, investors, and ecosystem partners from New Haven and beyond, as well as company visits through the Life Sciences Sprints program, in which Yale Ventures plays an active role. These experiences give associates direct exposure to Connecticut’s growing life sciences ecosystem and opportunities to connect with peers interning at companies across the region.

What unites them is a common purpose: to support Yale researchers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in solving some of the world’s most complex challenges —and to learn, firsthand, what it takes to bring great ideas to life.

Introducing the 2025 Yale Ventures Summer Associates, who are embedded across Yale Ventures to support faculty innovators, drive venture development, and strengthen Yale’s innovation ecosystem.

Adwoa Danso-Dodoo

Team: Corporate Stragegy & Engagement Office (CSEO)
Hometown: Accra, Ghana
School/Program: MBA Candidate, Yale School of Management

Adwoa Danso-Dodoo is a graduate of Yale College ‘24 and a current MBA candidate at the Yale School of Management. This summer, she returns to the Corporate Strategy & Engagement Office at Yale Ventures, where she has been supporting strategic partnership development and innovation outreach throughout the academic year.

Adwoa brings a multidisciplinary lens to her work, shaped by her background in chemistry research at Yale and the Yale Cancer Center, along with experience at BioCT, where she worked on business development initiatives for Connecticut’s biotech ecosystem. Her academic journey has been equally cross-cutting, pairing scientific rigor with business strategy to explore how innovation can meet critical healthcare and societal needs.

She was drawn to Yale Ventures to gain hands-on experience in technology translation and strategic planning, especially as it aligned with her coursework at SOM. What kept her here? “I really enjoyed both the work and the team,” she says, “which made it an easy decision to continue through the summer.”

Adwoa defines innovation as “creation or change to meet a need”, a value she’s carried since childhood, when she built unusual Lego towers that leaned but never fell. Today, her creativity is focused on building systems that make the world safer, more equitable, and more responsive to real-world challenges.

Fun Fact: Adwoa is a professional-level whistler.
 

Corey Schmidt

Team: Venture Lab
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Program/School: MBA Candidate, Yale School of Management

With a background in investment banking and private equity, Corey Schmidt brings a sharp eye for scalable innovation to Yale Ventures’ Venture Lab team. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Corey is passionate about the convergence of business, technology, and healthcare, especially in the fields of digital health, AI, and medical diagnostics.

This summer, Corey is supporting Yale faculty through early-stage venture development and entrepreneurship programming. His work in Venture Lab allows him to collaborate directly with researchers and startup teams, helping them translate their ideas into viable ventures.

For Corey, innovation is about more than invention; it’s about growth that propels both business and society forward. His vision is rooted in impact: if he could build one thing to improve the world, it would be a system that ensures universal access to basic human resources.

His first “invention”? A creative mashup of tools: a multi-use chalkboard device that could write, spray, and erase all in one.

Fun Fact: Now, his creativity takes a different stage too: he plays keyboard in a rock band that performs in NYC bars.
 

Casey Ma

Team: CBIT
Hometown: Guangzhou, China
Program/School: MBA/MPH Candidate, Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Management

Casey Ma is driven by a belief that bold ideas can—and should—improve lives. As an MBA/MPH candidate in Healthcare Management at Yale, she brings a uniquely interdisciplinary lens to CBIT, where she’s working on accelerating the development of biomedical innovations with real-world clinical applications.

With past experience in healthcare strategy, consulting, and corporate development at organizations like Yale New Haven Health, Ascension, IQVIA, and Merck, Casey’s journey has consistently been rooted in impact. At Yale Ventures, she’s channeling that experience into the Yale-Rothberg initiative and beyond, helping bridge research, innovation, and scalable implementation.

For Casey, innovation means daring to think differently and transforming ideas into realities that elevate others. That same mindset showed up early: as a kid, she built a “super cleaner” by strapping a mop to a remote control car. The prototype flung water everywhere, but in her mind, she’d just reinvented housework.

If she could create anything today, it would be a “perspective switcher”, a wearable device that helps people see, feel, and understand life from someone else’s point of view. Empathy, like innovation, starts with a shift in perspective.

Fun fact: Casey lives by the ultimate combo: gym and food.
 

Noële Certain

Team: IP & Licensing 
Hometown: Ridge NY
Program/School: PhD, Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology, Stony Brook University

With a PhD in Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology and a passion for translating research into impact, Noële Certain joins the IP & Licensing team at Yale Ventures to support one of innovation’s most complex frontiers: intellectual property. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at Yale, Noële brings deep scientific expertise and a commitment to bridging the gap between discovery and application.

Her academic journey spans biology, biomedical research, and scientific scholarship, with previous experience at Stony Brook University and through the Scholars in Biomedical Sciences program. This summer, she’s excited to work on the front lines of innovation strategy; helping safeguard, promote, and license groundbreaking ideas developed at Yale.

For Noële, innovation is an active process; a way to improve upon the past and create something new that serves society. It’s a philosophy that’s both personal and practical. Her first childhood invention? Edible playdoh made from peanut butter although, she now admits, “it didn’t taste great and definitely wasn’t allergy-friendly.”

If she could invent something for the world today, it would be simple and powerful: equity.

Fun fact: She’s a tropical plant enthusiast with a collection of more than thirty houseplants and counting.
 

Violet Kimble

Team: IP & Licensing
Hometown: Edison, NJ
Program/School: PhD Candidate in Neuroscience at Yale University 

With a background in neuroscience and a drive to bridge research and real-world impact, Violet Kimble brings sharp scientific insight and entrepreneurial vision to the IP & Licensing team at Yale Ventures. A PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Yale, Violet is passionate about unlocking the potential of research through commercialization, marketing, and community impact.

This summer, she returns to Yale Ventures as a Technology Transfer and Technology Marketing Associate, building on a year of experience identifying industry partners and developing outreach strategies for Yale-origin innovations. Her career so far spans roles in healthcare startup strategy at ENRICH Health, pro bono consulting with measurable business outcomes, and a top finalist pitch at Johns Hopkins for “Sobermate”, a digital companion app for people managing substance use disorders.

For Violet, innovation means doing something new or different that has real impact. Her first invention? A web app called WhERe To?, which she developed during high school through the Girls Who Code program. It helped users find and support local events like car washes and lemonade stands. “It made it easier for people to support their neighbors,” she says, “and that felt like a win.”

If she could build something today, it would be a universal, seamless, and stigma-free mental health support system; a tool integrated into daily life that makes emotional well-being as accessible as physical health care.

Fun fact: This summer, Violet is fulfilling a lifelong dream of traveling to Japan. She’s especially excited to immerse herself in the local culture, from savoring authentic ramen to exploring the vibrant world of anime in its country of origin.
 

Eliza Josephson  

Team:  Roberts Innovation Fund
Hometown: New York, NY 
Program/School: B.A. candidate in Comparative Literature, Yale College

Eliza Josephson brings a literary lens to deep tech and innovation. As a Comparative Literature major at Yale, she’s fascinated by language, structure, and the stories we tell, and this summer, she’s using those skills to help communicate complex technologies supported by the Roberts Innovation Fund.

Her background spans public service, tutoring, and fellowships through Dwight Hall, as well as experience at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut. At Yale Ventures, she’s particularly excited about translating scientific breakthroughs into narratives that resonate with real-world audiences, bridging research and commercialization through storytelling, strategy, and sharp communication.

To Eliza, innovation means “moving boldly into the new”, embracing change, experimentation, and renewal. Her earliest invention? A climate-change poem that became her day camp’s “mani-pesto,” painted in basil green and displayed at the local farmers market. It was an early lesson in the power of words to activate change.

If she could create anything today, she’d build an AI-powered linguistics tool, a platform to help people learn the principles behind language, making multilingualism more accessible and fostering deeper cross-cultural understanding.

Fun fact: Eliza is trained as a butcher (so she always knows when the “steaks” are high). She’s passionate about unusual experiences and believes every hobby, no matter how niche, informs how she approaches the world.
 

Sophia Yang

Team: Roberts Innovation Fund
Hometown: Howard County, MD 
Program/School: MBA Candidate, Yale School of Management

Sophia Yang brings a sharp business instinct and creative energy to the Roberts Innovation Fund, where she’s helping early-stage ventures from the Yale School of Engineering move from the lab into the world. With experience in product management, fintech, and structured finance, Sophia is no stranger to building new ideas from the ground up, and she’s passionate about supporting technologies that challenge convention and solve real-world problems.

Currently pursuing her MBA at Yale SOM, Sophia combines her background in foreign service and software development with a growing focus on early-stage venture capital. This summer, she’s excited to work across disciplines, helping shape commercialization strategies for Yale’s most promising deep-tech startups.

To her, innovation means refusing to settle, pushing past the expected to try something entirely new. Her first “invention” may have been in the kitchen: sprinkle bap—a childhood breakfast made of Korean rice, savory flakes, and a sunny-side-up egg.

If she could create something today, she’d design a platform to identify and repurpose underused parking lots as wildflower meadows, a small but powerful nod to transformation and sustainability.

Fun fact: Sophia can ollie up a curb and boardslide a rail—with style.

 

Jaryd Raizon

Team: Innovation Community 
Hometown: Cape Town
Program/School: Master of Advanced Management, Yale School of Management 

With roots in Harare and Cape Town, and a current home in New Haven, Jaryd Raizon brings a global lens and a deep passion for social impact to his role on the Innovation Community team at Yale Ventures. After earning his undergraduate and MBA degrees in finance and accounting at the University of Cape Town, Jaryd spent five years scaling a smart home automation startup, followed by five more building ventures in EdTech, FinTech, and RecruitTech, all aimed at tackling youth unemployment in Africa.

Now pursuing a Master of Advanced Management at Yale SOM, Jaryd continues to immerse himself in Yale’s innovation ecosystem. After supporting Engineering ventures through the Roberts Innovation Fund and snapping photos as a student photographer for Yale SOM, he joined the Innovation Community team to keep building connections and spotlighting changemakers across campus.

To Jaryd, innovation means “left-field solutions to non-trivial problems.” His first brush with entrepreneurship came at age 12 with Harmony Beading by Jaryd, a bracelet business launched with a beading kit from his mom. If he could create anything to improve the world today, it would be a platform that ensures equitable access to quality education, an issue he’s long worked to address through his ventures.

Fun fact: “I’m pretty sure I can speak to cats,” Jaryd says. “At least, that’s what I tell myself when I’m walking around meowing.”
 

Kenny Cheng

Team: IP & Licensing 
Hometown: Woodlands, Singapore
Program/School: BS/MS candidate in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University

For Kenny Cheng, innovation isn’t just about groundbreaking discoveries, it’s about building thoughtfully onto what’s come before. “Innovation means applying existing ideas to new fields in ways that improve the human condition,” he says. This perspective guides his work across molecular biology and technology transfer, where he’s always thinking about the bridge between discovery and impact.

A BS/MS candidate in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale, Kenny’s research in the Breaker Lab centers on the discovery of strange and novel RNA structures. But his experience reaches beyond the bench. He’s managed workflows and EIR relationships as an Operations Associate with Yale Venture Lab and helped launch Yale School of Medicine’s Long COVID blog as an Editorial Associate.

Now, as part of the IP & Licensing team, he’s exploring how research transitions into real-world solutions, an area he finds especially compelling. “Yale Ventures does such important work transforming lab discoveries into tools that benefit society. I wanted to be even more involved in that process.”

His first invention? A waterproof book cover, crafted so he could keep reading while floating on his back in a pool. “I was chronically addicted to books as a kid,” he admits.

Fun Fact: Kenny studied in England for seven years but insists he never picked up the accent.
 

Aidan Tuch

Team: Investor Network
Hometown: Rye, NY
Program/School: Economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison

As someone who thrives at the intersection of curiosity and data, Aidan Tuch brings a sharp analytical lens to every project he touches. A rising senior at the University of Wisconsin–Madison studying Economics with a certificate in Data Science, Aidan has carved out a unique path at the intersection of biotechnology, finance, and emerging technologies.

Before joining Yale Ventures, he worked with BIO 101, a consulting firm focused on the biotech sector, where he conducted shareholder analyses and explored asset management strategies across the U.S. and Europe. More recently, at Known, he researched the growing role of artificial intelligence in personalized experiences, collaborating directly with leadership to evaluate and expand the company’s data science capabilities.

This summer, Aidan is contributing his talents to the Investor Network team at Yale Ventures, where he’s excited to work at the heart of research translation and innovation strategy. “I’ve found that my passion lies in using data to solve problems creatively,” he says. “Being part of a team that helps turn research into scalable innovation is exactly where I want to be.”

For someone who taught himself how to ride a bike at age three, it’s no surprise that Aidan’s always been self-driven and forward-looking. If he could create anything to make the world better, it would be a platform that expands access to analytics in youth sports, empowering young athletes everywhere with data-driven tools to unlock their full potential.

Fun Fact: Aidan taught himself how to ride a bike when he was just three years old.
 

Joseph Dobson 

Team: Venture Lab
Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas
Program/School: MBA Candidate, Yale School of Management

Joseph Dobson brings a passion for systems thinking and global storytelling to his work with Yale Ventures’ Venture Lab. A 2026 MBA candidate at the Yale School of Management, Joseph previously studied Business Administration at the University of Arkansas and has built a career at the intersection of innovation, partnerships, and creative strategy.

Before coming to Yale, Joseph led strategic partnerships at Stacker and managed the TED Fellows Program & Partnerships at TED Conferences, where he supported changemakers around the world. At Yale Ventures, he’s especially excited to support emerging founders and ensure the university’s groundbreaking ideas have meaningful, real-world impact.

“Innovation for me is all about the application of new and novel ideas to solve real-world problems,” Joseph explains. That drive started early, at just four years old, he created his own “bank,” where customers could exchange money for lollipops.

Fun Fact: Whether he’s working on urban tech, food systems, or startup strategy, Joseph brings both insight and curiosity to every project. He also has a longstanding fascination with the travel industry, so much so that he became a travel agent just to better understand how it works.
 

Felicia Zheng

Team: Corporate Stragegy & Engagement Office (CSEO)
Hometown: McFarland, Wisconsin
Program/School: B.S. Candidate in Computers Science and Philosophy, Yale College

Felicia Zheng, a Yale College student pursuing degrees in computer science and philosophy, brings a unique blend of technical depth and ethical curiosity to her work at Yale Ventures. This summer, she joins the Corporate Strategy & Engagement Office (CSEO), where she supports initiatives that connect Yale research with strategic industry partners.

Felicia’s professional journey began as an IT technician at a regional bank in Wisconsin and has since taken her to Intel’s cybersecurity research program. On campus, she serves as a chair of the Yale Women and Gender Minorities in Computer Science board, helping to build a more inclusive and supportive tech community.

“I chose to work with Yale Ventures this summer because I believe Yale's research and academic efforts have meaningful impact not only within our community but also on a global scale,” she explains, “I’m motivated to contribute to and support this vital work.”

Felicia describes innovation as both a method and a responsibility; “a way to make a difference and an obligation to do so.” Whether she’s building board games (as she did when she was younger) or imagining tech-driven platforms that help people of all cultural and language backgrounds engage with public policy, she sees creative thinking as a form of service.

Fun Fact: When she’s not working or studying, Felicia loves playing ultimate frisbee. She also has a running joke about designing “chair pants” for tired legs on the go.
 

Julia Senkina  

Team: Corporate Stragegy & Engagement Office (CSEO)
Hometown: Bridgewater, NJ
Program/School: PhD Candidate, Yale University

 Julia Senkina is a PhD candidate in Chemistry at Yale University, where she specializes in neuropharmacology research in the Strittmatter Lab. This summer, she brings her scientific expertise and industry experience to Yale Ventures' Corporate Strategy & Engagement Office, where she supports efforts to amplify Yale's innovation footprint through external partnerships.

Julia’s background bridges both rigorous academic research and real-world application. She previously worked as a Medicinal Chemistry Intern at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she helped expand the company’s TYK2 inhibitor pipeline and authored regulatory documentation to advance clinical trials. At Yale, she has held multiple roles across science and commercialization, including as a Technology Marketing Associate with Yale Ventures. There, she helped showcase faculty research to prospective licensees and contributed to the strategic presentation of over 200 biomedical innovations. She also taught Advanced Organic Chemistry, guiding students through independent research and complex techniques.

For Julia, innovation is about creating breakthroughs that benefit many people. That belief is what drives her interest in translating lab-based discoveries into scalable solutions, and what led her to work with Yale Ventures this summer. She’s especially excited about helping faculty navigate the commercialization process and deepen Yale’s ties with external stakeholders.

Her first "invention"? A customized bubble mixture made from six household ingredients that created unusually fast, large bubbles.

Fun Fact: Julia can do 20 double jumps in just 15 seconds!
 

Renee Osagiede

Team: Innovation Community
Hometown: East Hartford, CT
Program/School: MPH, Yale School of Public Health

Renee Osagiede brings a passion for healthcare equity and a strong foundation in research, strategy, and public health innovation to the Innovation Community team at Yale Ventures. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Health and Societies, she is now pursuing her MPH in Health Care Management at Yale, building on a career dedicated to addressing systemic disparities.

Her past roles include healthcare strategy at Deloitte, research on social determinants of health at Mathematica, and bioethics work at Harvard Medical School. Each experience has sharpened her drive to rethink how institutions operate, especially in ways that can uplift underserved communities.

This summer, Renee is looking forward to immersing herself in Yale’s dynamic innovation ecosystem and connecting with mission-driven startups in New Haven. She’s especially excited about working at the intersection of equity and entrepreneurship.

Fun Fact: When she’s not diving into public health frameworks or startup pitches, Renee loves watching classic films!
 

Anger Dok

Team: Blavatnik Fund for Innovation
Hometown: South Sudan --> Des Moines, Iowa
Program: MPH Program, Yale School of Public Health

Born in South Sudan and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Anger Dok is driven by a global perspective and a deep commitment to equity in healthcare. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health and brings valuable experience in international development consulting, having contributed to global health supply chain and economic reform initiatives across Nigeria and Jordan.

At Yale, Anger served on the Healthcare Deal Team for the Meng Impact Investing Fund and will take on the role of Healthcare Deal Team Lead next year. This summer, she’s diving into the world of venture creation through the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation, where she supports early-stage healthcare technologies advancing toward commercialization.

For Anger, innovation means “dreaming with no limitations”—a philosophy reflected in her curiosity and drive. One of her earliest ventures? In second grade, she turned her school locker into a mini-library, renting out popular books for 25 cents a week. It was her first taste of entrepreneurship and a sign of her instinct to bridge gaps and build what’s missing.

Fun Fact: She played the violin growing up.

Christie Sedlack

Team:  Venture Lab
Hometown:  Philadelphia, PA
Program: Yale SOM, Class of 2025

Christine Sedlack brings a sharp analytical mindset and a love for problem-solving to her work at Yale Ventures. After earning a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Barnard College, Columbia University, she spent several years in finance, first in investment banking at Barclays and then in quantitative capital markets advisory at Matthews South. Now pursuing her MBA at the Yale School of Management, Christine is diving deeper into startup strategy, venture creation, and investment analysis.

At Venture Lab, she supports Yale faculty in navigating the earliest stages of the entrepreneurial journey. For Christine, innovation happens when passionate people identify a problem in society and commit fully to solving it.

If she could create one thing to improve the world, a mechanism to provide fair access to education for all children.

Fun Fact: Christine trained in dance for 19 years and brings the same discipline and creativity to her professional life.

Bryn Erickson

Team: Innovation Community
Hometown: Fort Collins, CO
Program/School: B.S. Candidate, Yale University

Bryn Erickson is currently a Biomedical Engineering BS candidate at Yale, where she’s passionate about building more equitable, accessible systems at the intersection of healthcare and technology. This summer, she’s working with the Innovation Community team to help showcase the people and projects that make Yale Ventures such a dynamic ecosystem, bringing together science, entrepreneurship, and human impact.

Her approach to innovation is grounded in curiosity and purpose: it’s not just about what’s new, but about making meaningful improvements that center real people. She was drawn to Yale Ventures for its mission to turn novel ideas into real-world outcomes and for the opportunity to blend her interests in science, storytelling, and strategy.

As a kid, Bryn’s first invention came from necessity: she rigged a string-and-tape system to turn off her bedroom light from the top bunk. It didn’t quite work, but it sparked a lifelong love for creative problem-solving.

If she could create one thing to improve the world? A diagnostic tool powered by AI and trained on diverse populations to reduce misdiagnosis in historically underserved communities. Accuracy in healthcare, she believes, should be a right, not a privilege.

Fun Fact: Bryn studied abroad in Siena, Italy, and still keeps in touch with her host family—in Italian, of course.
 

Ojas Mehta

Team: Roberts Innovation Fund
Hometown: Dix Hills, NY
Program/School: B.S., Yale University, Class of 2025

Fresh off earning his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale College, Ojas Mehta brings a sharp engineering mind and an entrepreneurial spirit to the Roberts Innovation Fund at Yale Ventures. With previous experience in trading, RPA development, and startup program management, he blends technical depth with a strong understanding of strategy and execution.

This summer, Ojas is focused on helping high-impact technologies make the leap from lab to market. He’s particularly drawn to innovations in hardware and software, and excited to learn firsthand how cutting-edge research can be turned into scalable solutions.

Ojas has always had a builder’s mindset. As a kid, he famously created his own LEGO Beyblades after the real ones were banned at school, a clever workaround that predated even LEGO’s official Ninjago line. It was early evidence of the creative problem-solving and technical curiosity that now drives his work today.

If he could create one thing to improve the world? A school that encourages kids to explore a wide range of interests early on, helping them discover what really makes them tick.

Fun Fact: He and his dad once rebuilt a 1982 Corvette engine together in their home garage.
 

Erica Stutz

Team: CBIT
Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ
Program/School: PhD student at Yale University 

For Erica Stutz, innovation begins with discovery, and it extends all the way to impact. As a Ph.D. student at Yale with a B.A. from Swarthmore College, Erica is deeply committed to transforming novel ideas into real-world healthcare solutions. Her work sits at the intersection of digital health, data science, and equity. She brings both research rigor and a consulting mindset to every challenge she faces.

Before Yale, Erica gained hands-on experience as a technology consulting intern at EY and conducted research at institutions including Harvard Medical School and the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute. At Swarthmore, she took on leadership roles both on and off the court, serving as captain of the NCAA DIII Tennis Team, President of 180 Degrees Consulting, and a Career Fellow supporting her peers’ professional development.
Now at Yale, Erica continues to lead across initiatives. She serves as a Rothberg Catalyzer Student Ambassador for CBIT, project consultant for the Yale Graduate Consulting Club, and McDougal Fellow for the Graduate Student Center. Over the past year with CBIT, she has played a key role in streamlining tech workflows for innovator awards and planning the 2025 CBIT Healthcare Hackathon. “It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience,” she says, “accelerating new ideas and helping transform them into impactful solutions.”

Whether she’s building paper models of buildings with her parents or designing healthcare systems that reduce barriers to access, Erica has always had an eye for structure, and a heart for impact.

Fun Fact: Erica was named after her family dog, Eric.
 

Jordan Meier

Team: Faculty Engagement
Hometown: Southington, CT
School/Program: Master's in Education Candidate, University of North Carolina

With a deep background in education and venture creation, Jordan Meier brings a unique perspective to the Faculty Engagement team at Yale Ventures. Currently pursuing his Master’s in Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jordan has built his career at the intersection of learning and innovation.

Before joining Yale Ventures, he supported entrepreneurship statewide as a program analyst for CTNext and later explored the world of early-stage investing as a venture capital analyst at the West Coast startup studio Root System. Now at Launch Chapel Hill, UNC’s startup accelerator, he leads the development of student-focused entrepreneurship programming.

For Jordan, innovation and education are fundamentally linked. “To innovate is to challenge our understanding of how the world works,” he says. “It’s about creating a new standard of knowledge — and anyone can be innovative, even if they’re not an entrepreneur.”

This summer, Jordan is diving into faculty-facing initiatives at Yale, gaining new insight into the tech transfer process and expanding his work from student ventures to institutional innovation.

Fun fact: He once created his own trading card game on the back of his dad’s business cards. Today, he's still inventing; although he'd love to invent a teleportation machine to skip the long commute from North Carolina. Go Tar Heels.
 

Yale Ventures Associate Team Overviews

If you're interested in applying to become a Yale Ventures associate, learn more about our open 2025-2026 academic year roles.