profile picture

Katie K

- Research Program Mentor

MBA at Harvard University

Expertise

Human-centered design / design thinking, product development, entrepreneurship, startups, nonprofits, writing, public speaking

Bio

Hi there! I'm Katie, a creative product design & business leader with an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Now I live in NY, where I'm a full-time tech startup founder in the education space! I'm passionate about designing & building new products, programs, services, and ventures that tangibly impact people's lives—especially in education and healthcare. Personally, I love to practice yoga, travel, ski, and meditate. I'm also a certified scuba diver. Excited to meet you!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Build your personal brand (website, LinkedIn, resume)

Kickstart your personal brand! If you're new to LinkedIn, want to design & build your own personal website, revamping your resume, or something else, we will draw inspiration, craft your story, and then start writing & making. This will be a very hands-on, tangible project.

Create a startup idea & business plan

Come up with a great startup idea by exploring the problems you want to solve, coming up with creative concepts, and gathering feedback. Then, choose your top idea, and create a business plan around it. Explore the product or service you want to build and how it will make money, define your target customers, create a brand mood board, design a logo, and come up with a marketing strategy to start reaching your target customers.

Teaching experience

I first started teaching & mentoring students while at Stanford—I co-founded a girls' education nonprofit, created a design thinking & leadership curriculum, and taught middle and high school students around the country. Currently, I teach an advanced design research course at Stanford each Fall and work on the side as a career coach for college students and recent graduates.

Credentials

Work experience

IDEO (2016 - 2019)
Marketing, Business Development, and Product Design
Edtech Startup (2020 - 2021)
Design Program Manager
twenty (2023 - Current)
Founder, CEO

Education

Stanford University
BSE Bachelor of Science in Engineering (2016)
Product Design
Harvard University
MBA Master of Business Administration (2023)

Interested in working with expert mentors like Katie?

Apply now