Even as a teenager, Laurie Stach ’06 harboured an ambitious vision to tackle the world’s challenges. At MIT, she discovered she wasn’t alone in her zeal.
“Adults always see these youth who are good at math and science and say, ‘You’re going to do great things—someday,’” says Stach. “Meanwhile, traditional education isn’t preparing them.”
In 2012, she launched LaunchX, a for-profit entrepreneurship programme that immerses high school students in building practical skills over an intensive summer stint. Students form teams, identify problems and launch real products or services, often generating pre-orders or revenue before the program concludes.
Raised in Texas and the Carolinas, Stach graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering and earned her MBA at Harvard Business School in 2011. Her first summer school programme in 2013 on MIT’s campus quickly gained momentum. Today, LaunchX serves around 500 students annually across both in-person and online platforms.
