Victor Padilla-Taylor '15 MAM
Director
Yale University
Victor Padilla-Taylor is Director at the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, where he leads an interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial ecosystem spanning staff, consultants, alumni, and partners. His work integrates immersive programming, personalized relationship management, and a curated technology stack to scale innovation across the university. He received Yale’s 2021 Linda K. Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service, conferred by the university president for exceptional commitment to innovation and Yale’s educational mission.
He also received the 2023 Yale Alumni Leadership Award and the 2025 Yale SOM Distinguished Volunteer Service Award for founding and scaling the school’s largest entrepreneurial alumni professional group.
Victor has served in leadership and advisory roles with the Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers, Long Wharf Theatre, the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board, the Yale SOM Campaign Committee, and Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale.
Previously, Victor was a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where he managed cross-sector partnerships addressing digital transformation, global trade, and sudden-onset humanitarian response. He managed a Global Future Council convening leading public, private, and academic stakeholders in the Middle East and, as Senior Community Manager, oversaw a partner portfolio valued at $14 million annually.
Earlier in his career, Victor held senior roles with AgTech trading firms across Latin America, leading operational optimization, information systems transformation, M&A initiatives, and the execution of large commodity contracts with governments and private-sector counterparts in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. As Corporate Development Manager for a family-owned conglomerate, he led international teams executing multimillion-dollar investments in chemicals, precision agriculture, and transportation.
He was also a three-time founder who built and exited bootstrapped ventures in B2B services, consumer products, and real estate.
Victor holds a Master of Advanced Management from Yale School of Management, an MBA from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and degrees in Chemical and Industrial Engineering. He completed an Executive Master’s in Global Leadership through the World Economic Forum and is a trained coach through the Co-Active Training Institute. In Guatemala, his adoptive country, he served as captain of the Men’s National Basketball Team.
He also received the 2023 Yale Alumni Leadership Award and the 2025 Yale SOM Distinguished Volunteer Service Award for founding and scaling the school’s largest entrepreneurial alumni professional group.
Victor has served in leadership and advisory roles with the Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers, Long Wharf Theatre, the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board, the Yale SOM Campaign Committee, and Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale.
Previously, Victor was a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum, where he managed cross-sector partnerships addressing digital transformation, global trade, and sudden-onset humanitarian response. He managed a Global Future Council convening leading public, private, and academic stakeholders in the Middle East and, as Senior Community Manager, oversaw a partner portfolio valued at $14 million annually.
Earlier in his career, Victor held senior roles with AgTech trading firms across Latin America, leading operational optimization, information systems transformation, M&A initiatives, and the execution of large commodity contracts with governments and private-sector counterparts in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. As Corporate Development Manager for a family-owned conglomerate, he led international teams executing multimillion-dollar investments in chemicals, precision agriculture, and transportation.
He was also a three-time founder who built and exited bootstrapped ventures in B2B services, consumer products, and real estate.
Victor holds a Master of Advanced Management from Yale School of Management, an MBA from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and degrees in Chemical and Industrial Engineering. He completed an Executive Master’s in Global Leadership through the World Economic Forum and is a trained coach through the Co-Active Training Institute. In Guatemala, his adoptive country, he served as captain of the Men’s National Basketball Team.
