Our Future of the Business World producers don’t often get to meet our podcast guests in person; our discussions are taped virtually. We’re happy to report, however, that we had a face-to-face chat with this month’s episode subject, Sahana Ahuja, while she visited the Wharton School’s Philadelphia campus in June 2023 for a summer high school leadership program. Sahana is a rising senior at the Medeira School in Virginia, U.S.
Since we had taped our podcast conversation weeks prior about her work with The Launch Project, she shared that she and a partner have since started developing an annual investment competition, our Pre-baccalaureate courses, and our online and on-campus summer programs.
This month, we’re welcoming a new group of business leaders to our college classrooms. And today’s guest is among them. Sahana Ahuja is part of our Leadership in the Business World program, where she is no doubt sharing experiences from her own entrepreneurship journey as the founder of The Launch Project.
Sahana, it’s great to have you on Future of the Business World.
Sahana Ahuja: Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Wharton Global Youth: What is The Launch Project? When and why did you start it? And how has it grown? Tell us a little bit about it.
Sahana: The Launch Project is an international Wharton Global Youth: Fifty chapters…I’m definitely thinking about that. And that Inception started with you, correct? I mean, it all started with Sahana. Can you tell us about your inspiration for The Launch Project? And when this was and how you built from there? Sahana: The inspiration for starting The Launch Project came from two significant experiences. The first one was my encounter with a girl abroad. She worked in extremely harsh conditions, while her brother had access to education. This was solely because of his gender. And this experience really opened my eyes to the stark realities of gender disparities, and the encounter left a lasting impact on me. This truly fueled my deep interest in addressing societal and gender equality. Additionally, attending a Girls in Leadership conference at the age of 13 made me realize the transformative power of bringing together successful female leaders as role models for teenage girls. Combining my passion for mentorship, education and gender equality, these experiences became the driving force behind the creation of The Launch Project. Wharton Global Youth: Have you followed the progress of this young woman that you met abroad at all? And does she know that she was an inspiration for such a big, wonderful entrepreneurial venture? Sahana: So, recently we try to contact the girl around the hotel where she was staying. We contacted them to try to reach out and provide some support to her. But unfortunately, she moved due to unforeseen circumstances. Wharton Global Youth: So, she’s somewhere out there, and maybe she’ll discover you. I recently heard you talk about The Launch Project’s Female Empowerment Summit. Can you tell us more about this? And do you have a moment from that experience that really stands out? Sahana: Definitely. The Launch Project Female Empowerment Summit took place at the United States Source link
