Dr. Yuly Fuentes Medel is a catalyst of creative ideas, ecosystem builder, and pioneer at the intersection of Fashion, Technology, Climate Change, and Business. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Footwear Collective (TFC), a nonprofit initiative powered by EarthDNA Inc., and serves as Program Director of the Climate Project and Fabric Innovation Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Dr. Fuentes Medel launched The Footwear Collective in Fall 2023 under the umbrella of EarthDNA Inc., a Cambridge-based nonprofit founded by a former NASA Deputy Administrator and an advisory board of astronauts committed to saving our planet. Through TFC, she unites footwear brands, innovators, and partners through pre-competitive collaboration to build a circular future for the industry.
Yuly is the author of The Footwear Manifesto, a report charting a collaborative path to minimizing the environmental impact of the footwear industry (2022). Prior to this work, she served as a Senior Investment Advisor at Closed Loop Partners and founded DESCIENCE, a global collective of designers, scientists, and technologists dedicated to connecting science and design to drive innovation with purpose.
She holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed postdoctoral training in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management. Her work has been recognized internationally, including being named Human of the Year by Motherhood Magazine in 2018 and receiving the Boston Business Magazine Woman to Watch Award in 2015.