Our Story
Mighty Red Barn was founded on the idea that tech-focused nonprofit and social benefit start-ups need specialized support. We bring years of experience working in this space and are committed to helping you change the world!
Mighty Red Barn Clients
We work with nonprofit and start-up tech organizations that need innovative solutions to corporate issues that are hindering their growth. Our clients are small to medium-sized organizations.
Our Solutions
Community building
Data sharing frameworks
Mission - vision - values - principles
Nonprofit business models
Persistent identifiers
Product strategy
Program evaluation
Research information infrastructure
Start-up management
Team building in virtual workplaces
A Lifelong Commitment
to Creating a Better World
Laurel (Laure) Haak,
PhD - Founder and CEO
Laure Haak is an accomplished strategist, researcher, and leader with a background in socio-tech entrepreneurship and nonprofit governance. She is a dynamic, collaborative team player with global-scale experience across government, academia, non-profit, and corporate sectors. Her work has been recognized with awards for mentoring, community service, and technology innovation. Laure earned degrees in Biology and Neuroscience from Stanford University, did postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health, and currently serves as a Research Scholar at the Ronin Institute. Laure served as the Founding Executive Director of ORCID and has held leadership roles in other prominent organizations, including Thomson Reuters/Discovery Logic and the US National Academies. In addition to providing transformative consulting services to start-ups and nonprofits through Mighty Red Barn, Laure is also a Research Scholar at the Ronin Institute. Known for her visionary leadership, Laure is dedicated to the pursuit of understanding and takes a creative, action-oriented approach to her work.
Community Engagement
Laure is a strong advocate for community service and takes action by contributing her knowledge and skills to a number of non-profit and start-up organizations, internationally and locally.
Local Contexts
Secretary, Board of Directors
SCORE Mentors
Chair, Green Bay Chapter
Phoenix Bioinformatics Corporation
Chair, Board of Directors
Pickerel Chain Lake Association
Secretary, Member of the Board of Directors
Awards
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![Vietsch foundation logo]()
Vietsch Foundation
Medal of Honour Recipient
The medal is awarded annually to people who have made a contribution of lasting value to the research and development of advanced Internet technology aimed to support science, research, and higher education.
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![National Postdoctoral Association logo]()
National Postdoctoral Association
Distinguished Service Award
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![NIH logo]()
The US National Institutes of Health
Director’s Award
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Association for Women in Science
Award for Excellence in Mentoring
Bethesda Chapter
Affiliations
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![Ronin Institute logo]()
Ronin Institute
Research Scholar
Laure’s research interests center on trust-building to foster communities, through practice areas of digital infrastructure and identity, governance and decision frameworks, product strategy, and practice.
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ORCID
Founding Executive Director
Laure built the organization from the ground up to be a sustainable, mission-driven non-profit organization with $5 million in recurring revenue.
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![Thomson Reuters logo]()
Discovery Logic, A Thomson Reuters Company
Chief Science Officer
Laure designed programmatic and thought leadership activities with a focus on research policy and knowledge management systems. She also spearheaded business development efforts and all aspects of the proposal process, generating $20+ million in revenue.
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![National Academies logo]()
National Academies
Program Officer
Laure managed the scientific workforce project portfolio of COSEPUP, which included managing the ad hoc committee study process, developing new projects, and raising funds.
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Program Manager, Science’s Next Wave Postdoc Network
Laure was responsible for researching, writing, and editing articles on topics of pertinence to postdocs and institutional administrators.
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![NIH logo]()
The National Institutes of Health
IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow / NRC Research Associate
Laure’s general research area was the regulation of intracellular calcium signaling in the central nervous system.
Education
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![Stanford University logo]()
Stanford University
B.S. and M.S. in Biology
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Stanford University Medical School
Ph.D. in Neuroscience
Our Distinct Approach
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Rooting Social Ventures in Communities They Serve
Entrepreneurial ventures with societal missions play a vital role in our society, but these ventures must be anchored within communities to foster trust and long-term impact. Your community provides the stability and values necessary for success.
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Governance Drives Mission Relevance for Social Ventures
Governance aligns organizational objectives with values and plays a pivotal role in ensuring mission relevance for social ventures. Effective governance ensures organizations stay true to their mission.
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Building a Car, Here is the Key
There are many parallels between building a car and the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs in solving complex, multi-stakeholder problems. You can’t prepare for every eventuality; but what you can do is make sure you have a roadmap, a good toolkit, and a positive attitude when you encounter challenges.
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Evolving through Experimentation
Innovation depends on iterative cycles of learning from failure. Organizations willing to engage their stakeholders in strategic experiments – and measure impact – can improve their mission success.
Mighty Red Barn
Brand Origins
Why “Mighty Red Barn?” Barns symbolize our vision and principles: community, cooperation, craft, and pragmatism.
Our Case Studies
Read our client success stories for examples of our innovative solutions, strategies, and tools that help organizations engage with communities and build sustainable, community-beneficial services.
