Virginia Commonwealth University

Garret Westlake

1. Can you share the key experiences and milestones in your career that led you to your current role?

My journey began as an undergraduate at Carleton College, where I designed my own interdisciplinary major to explore dyslexia through cognitive science, education, philosophy, linguistics, and machine learning. That early prototype of personalized, student-centered learning set the tone for a career dedicated to reimagining education.

At Arizona State University, I served as an assistant dean of students and associate dean of student entrepreneurship, helping a top-ranked innovation university rethink the link between education, student success, and real-world outcomes. ASU provided ample opportunity to prototype and test new ideas which led me to found a tech startup focused on closing the employment gap for neurodiverse college students in STEM fields—an experience that deeply informs my approach to inclusive innovation and workforce readiness.

At Virginia Commonwealth University, where I currently serve as a professor of management and entrepreneurship and vice provost for innovation and strategic design, I’ve applied human-centered design to prototype the future of higher education through strategic partnerships. As co-founder of VCU’s SHIFT Labs, our work has been recognized two times by Fast Company as well as Adobe, and other industry leaders for reimagining what co-curricular programming can look like for students and the community.

2. How do you personally approach the design and implementation of strategies that foster collaboration between academic offices and external stakeholders?

3I approach collaboration through the lens of human-centered design and shared value creation. Whether working with Fortune 500 companies like Allianz and Caterpillar or academic departments, I facilitate co-creation processes that align stakeholder needs with institutional goals. I prioritize active listening, mutual respect, and agile prototyping to rapidly test ideas and iterate toward sustainable partnerships. It is often critical that partners understand their unique strengths and can articulate how the combination of their strengths offers a return on investment. The evolution of the Shift Retail Lab from a student storefront concept to a retail lab is a great example of working closely with internal and external stakeholders to prototype and test concepts and programs with multiple iterations enroute to a more mature offering.

“Successful partnerships, in my experience, are built on trust, transparency, and shared experimentation, rather than one-size-fits-all pilots”

Successful partnerships, in my experience, are built through trust, transparency, and shared experimentation—not one-sizefits-all pilots. When stakeholders feel empowered as co-designers, the outcomes are not only more innovative but also more sustainable.

3. What unique frameworks or tools have you developed or adapted to unlock innovation and creative problem-solving in teams and organizations?

I’ve adapted and delivered a suite of experiential innovation tools—including LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, ExperiencePoint’s design thinking and change management curricula, and customized versions of the Business Model Canvas—for teams ranging from Fortune 500 companies to faculty task forces. What makes these frameworks successful isn’t the tools themselves but how they’re facilitated: by treating innovation as a continuum that begins with fostering creative thinking, removing barriers to implementation, and sustaining new ideas through entrepreneurial thinking. Most important is recognizing culture as the core enabler of sustained innovation.

SHIFT Labs at VCU embodies this philosophy. It’s not just a program but a replicable model for activating innovation capacity across industries and institutions. Our model has scaled globally helping organizations prototype healthcare interventions, startup formation, and new educational models that reflect diverse user perspectives.

4. How do you personally navigate the challenge of scaling innovation-driven programs while maintaining their human-centered focus?

There are always trade-offs when early stage ideas or prototypes begin to operate at scale. Maintaining a human-centered focus can be challenging with scale; however, always being clear on who your user is and seeking out their feedback throughout the process is critical. In higher education this often means a clear and consistent focus on students and continually seeking their feedback as a program evolves. Making assumptions is a common pitfall in scaling programs and maintaining strong design principles and program architectures that allow for continued feedback and adaptation is critical. Much like delivering a new product or service, design elements and program features should always be grounded in data generated from users.

5. Can you tell us how you personally stay ahead of trends in innovation and design to ensure your initiatives remain relevant and impactful?

Staying ahead in innovation requires intentional discomfort and strategic curiosity. I actively seek out opportunities where I am not the expert—whether that’s learning a new sport like wing foiling, prototyping with emerging technologies, or engaging with professionals outside my discipline. These moments of unfamiliarity sharpen my perspective and help me identify trends before they hit the mainstream. In design thinking, we often leverage novice users for insight and I apply this same principle by immersing myself in environments where I can be a novice.

In parallel, I remain deeply embedded in real-world innovation ecosystems. As a mentor and advisor to startups, accelerators, and corporate innovation labs, I’m exposed daily to the front lines of change across sectors like energy, healthcare, and education. These engagements allow me to observe patterns, test ideas, and translate practices into scalable, human-centered programs at VCU and beyond. Ultimately, it’s the combination of curiosity, experimentation, and cross-sector collaboration that keeps my work adaptive, future-oriented, and impactful.

6. What advice would you give to other leaders trying to balance innovation with inclusivity in education and entrepreneurship?

Design with, not for. True inclusivity means embedding diverse perspectives at the earliest stages of problem definition and continuing that engagement through to implementation. At VCU, I’ve led cross-functional innovation teams in healthcare that included not only clinicians but also patients, facilities staff, and administrators—ensuring the outcomes reflected the lived realities of all stakeholders.

Inclusion isn’t an afterthought; it’s an innovation catalyst. My work with neurodiverse students, community entrepreneurs, and international partners shows that when design honors different ways of thinking and being, the results are not only more equitable—they’re more innovative.