LaunchX Recognized with the Youth Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Award at the Great Companies Global Business Awards 2026
Entrepreneurship education becomes most meaningful when young people have the opportunity to move beyond ideas and experience what building a business actually requires.
That principle sits at the center of LaunchX, an entrepreneurship education organization founded in 2012 by Laurie Stach. Through courses, conferences, competitions, and immersive programs, LaunchX gives young entrepreneurs opportunities to develop entrepreneurial skills through practical experiences rather than relying solely on classroom theory.
Today, LaunchX is led by Forest Richter, President of LaunchX, who brings a focus on startup founders, emerging investors, ecosystem development, and greater access to capital to the organization's leadership. His work aligns with LaunchX's broader objective of creating opportunities for young entrepreneurs to develop the skills, confidence, and networks needed to take ideas into action.
For its contribution to developing entrepreneurial capability among young people, LaunchX has been recognized with the Youth Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Award at the Great Companies Global Business Awards 2026.
Key Highlights
Founded in 2012 by Laurie Stach, with its first summer program held in 2013.
Led today by Forest Richter, President of LaunchX.
Focuses specifically on youth entrepreneurship education through practical, rigorous learning experiences.
Reports more than 3,000 successful Launchies from its programs.
Offers entrepreneurship, innovation, startup, exploration, and online learning experiences.
Students can build real businesses, work on real company challenges, or gain experience through startup internships.
Applications have grown by 30%+ year over year for the past three years, according to company-reported figures.
Provides $5,000+ in scholarships each year through its AwardX entrepreneurship competition.
From Entrepreneurship Theory to Real-World Practice
LaunchX was founded with a clear educational premise: young people interested in entrepreneurship should have the opportunity to actually practice it.
The organization began as the Launch Summer Program, initially operating at MIT, before expanding beyond a single university location as demand for high school entrepreneurship education grew.
Over time, LaunchX developed a broader range of educational experiences while maintaining its focus on practical learning.
Its approach is reflected in the organization's stated mission: offering a full spectrum of educational experiences to passionate young entrepreneurs and empowering them to change the world through action.
That distinction—learning by doing—is central to the LaunchX experience.
Rather than treating entrepreneurship as a theoretical subject, students are placed in collaborative environments where they can test ideas, work with teams, receive feedback, and confront the practical challenges involved in creating something viable.
Building the Skills Behind Entrepreneurship
The LaunchX model brings together several elements of entrepreneurial development.
Students may work on developing a product, launching a startup, consulting with an existing organization, or gaining practical experience inside a startup.
The organization's programs include Online BootCamp, Online Innovation, Online Entrepreneurship, San Diego Exploration, San Diego Entrepreneurship, and Online Startup Experience.
Each pathway emphasizes a different aspect of entrepreneurial learning.
Some students may be at the beginning of their journey and need foundational startup knowledge. Others may be ready to build a company, solve a real business problem, or experience the working environment of an early-stage venture.
This range allows youth entrepreneurship education to become more than a single course. It becomes a collection of experiences through which students can discover how they learn, collaborate, build, test, and lead.
Learning Through Real Problems
One of LaunchX's most distinctive developments was its Innovation Program, introduced in 2023.
Through this program, students partnered with existing businesses and enterprises to solve real business problems.
The model creates a different kind of classroom. Instead of working only with hypothetical cases, students are asked to engage with challenges that organizations actually face.
That experience can introduce young entrepreneurs to the ambiguity that accompanies real-world problem-solving: understanding a problem, asking better questions, testing potential solutions, working with others, and presenting ideas.
It also reinforces one of LaunchX's core principles: entrepreneurship is not only about starting companies. It is a transferable way of thinking and working.
A Community Built Around Young Entrepreneurs
The educational experience at LaunchX is also strongly connected to community.
Students work alongside peers from different backgrounds and locations, while programs incorporate mentors, industry experts, staff, and other members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The organization describes its vision as a world in which young people everywhere develop entrepreneurial mindsets and practical skills within a lasting community of like-minded people.
That emphasis on community is particularly relevant to LaunchX's current leadership direction.
As President, Forest Richter describes his professional focus around working with startup founders and emerging investors, creating a more inclusive ecosystem, and improving access to capital. That perspective complements LaunchX's role in helping young people understand entrepreneurship not only as an idea, but as participation in a broader ecosystem of founders, investors, mentors, and organizations.
The organization also maintains the LaunchX Alum Network, alumni stories, resources, and continued engagement, extending the community beyond the formal program experience.
A Decade of Evolution
LaunchX has continually adapted its educational model since its founding.
After beginning at MIT, the organization expanded to additional university locations as demand increased. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it moved its summer program online and continued to grow.
In 2023, it introduced the Innovation Program. In 2024, it launched AwardX, a high school entrepreneurship competition focused on company viability. In 2025, it added Online BootCamp to provide foundational startup education.
This evolution reflects an organization that has continued to experiment with different ways of making entrepreneurship education accessible and practical.
The common thread has remained the same: give young people meaningful opportunities to turn entrepreneurial knowledge into action.
Growing Demand for Youth Entrepreneurship
LaunchX reports that applications have grown by more than 30% year over year for the past three years and that it is serving 100% more students than it did two years earlier.
The organization also reports more than 3,000 successful Launchies.
The alumni stories illustrate the variety of directions participants can take after their LaunchX experience.
The organization highlights alumni including Aadit Palicha, who attended LaunchX in 2019 before going on to co-found Zepto, and Panashe Madzudzo, who pursued healthcare innovation through AI after graduating from the program.
These individual journeys demonstrate that the objective of entrepreneurship education is not necessarily to produce one predetermined outcome. It is to develop the confidence, skills, mindset, and practical experience young people can carry into future ventures and careers.
Creating Opportunity Beyond the Classroom
LaunchX also incorporates financial support into its entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Through its AwardX competition, the organization provides more than $5,000 in scholarships each year to young entrepreneurs, according to company-provided information.
Its broader community contribution includes creating opportunities, supporting associations and groups, sharing knowledge and training, and supporting employee development.
This reinforces the organization's belief that access to entrepreneurial education should extend beyond those who already have resources or connections.
Why LaunchX Earned the Award
The Youth Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Award recognizes LaunchX for building an educational model that connects entrepreneurial knowledge with practical experience.
Its strength lies in the combination of rigorous curriculum, experiential learning, real-world problem-solving, mentorship, collaboration, competitions, and startup exposure.
Students are not simply taught what entrepreneurship is. They are given opportunities to experience parts of the entrepreneurial process themselves.
That approach is particularly valuable in youth education because entrepreneurial capability extends beyond business creation. Skills such as teamwork, experimentation, communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and initiative can remain valuable regardless of the student's eventual career path.
What Sets LaunchX Apart
The clearest distinction is its commitment to putting theory into practice.
A student can move from learning startup fundamentals to building a company, from developing a product to consulting for an existing organization, or from classroom learning to an internship with a startup.
The programs are structured to create experiences rather than simply deliver information.
LaunchX's core values reinforce that philosophy: grow together, question the old and build the new, control the variables, and bring passion and authenticity to the work.
Together, these principles create an educational environment designed to make young people active participants in their own entrepreneurial development.
Looking Ahead
LaunchX continues to expand and refine its programs for young entrepreneurs around the world.
Its long-term vision is not simply to teach more students about business. It is to help more young people develop the entrepreneurial mindset and practical skills to identify opportunities, solve meaningful problems, and take action.
Under current President Forest Richter, LaunchX's connection to the wider startup ecosystem also provides an important dimension to that mission—helping young entrepreneurs develop within communities where founders, mentors, investors, and other ecosystem participants can contribute to their growth.
As entrepreneurship becomes increasingly relevant across industries and career paths, experiential education can play an important role in preparing young people for an uncertain and rapidly changing world.
LaunchX's continuing evolution suggests that its next chapter will remain focused on the same fundamental idea that shaped its beginnings: giving young people the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship by actually doing it.
Award Recognition
Youth Entrepreneurship Education Excellence AwardGreat Companies Global Business Awards 2026
The award recognizes LaunchX for its contribution to youth entrepreneurship education, particularly its practical curriculum, experiential learning model, entrepreneurial community, and commitment to creating opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Leadership
Forest RichterPresident, LaunchX
Forest Richter has served as President of LaunchX since June 2024. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his professional focus includes working with startup founders and emerging investors, supporting a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, and expanding access to capital.
His current leadership adds an ecosystem perspective to LaunchX's educational mission, connecting the development of young entrepreneurs with the wider world of startups, investment, mentorship, and opportunity.
Founder
Laurie StachFounder, LaunchX
Laurie Stach founded LaunchX in 2012, beginning with the Launch Summer Program and establishing the foundation for what has developed into a broader youth entrepreneurship education platform.
Company Snapshot
Company: LaunchX
Founder: Laurie Stach
President: Forest Richter
Established: 2012
Location: United States
Industry: Education
Website: launchx.com
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