Activities

Vanessa Ladino studied Design Thinking at the University of Los Andes in Colombia and later earned an MSc in Innovation, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship from the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. In between and afterwards, Vanessa has deepened her expertise in Design Thinking, Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship, working as a human-centered designer, coach, facilitator, and global network coordinator in both startups and companies located in Colombia, The Netherlands, and Germany. Since November 2023, Vanessa has joined the DSI team as a Design Thinking lecturer and Innovation + Community Management expert.

Interest

Human-centered Design
Service Design
Innovation
Education & Coaching

Projects

Service Design Thinking
- A learning-by-doing and collaborative Design Thinking course for master’s students at KIT and corporate partners around the globe, willing to join forces and solve current company challenges within the open-innovation framework of the SUGAR Global Network.
SHAPE
- A Germany-wide service innovation hub (still in development) aiming to support local academia in establishing an ecosystem that enables them to accompany their local SMEs in the field of service innovation and digital transformation, while developing and strengthening their business and networks.