2022 is the year Forbes Magazine celebrates its 10-year anniversary of the 30 Under 30 list, which highlights some of the nation’s brightest young innovators. The U.S. Forbes 30 Under 30 list recognizes a total of 600 honorees across 20 categories to represent people in all types of professions, including enterprise technology, science, education, marketing, finance, music, art, sports, fashion, healthcare, law, manufacturing, food and drink, and more. Each category recognizes 30 businesses or industry figures under the age of 30 who are excelling in their field. Nominations can be submitted on the Forbes website, which are then reviewed and selected by a panel of judges.

This year’s list featured a diverse set of names, with people from all ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds in its categories. Notable honorees from underrepresented groups in 2022’s 30 Under 30 list include:

• 28-year-olds Brandon Hill and Tremaine Kirkman in the enterprise technology category are recognized for co-founding Vori, “a platform that enables supermarkets to order from wholesalers by scanning barcodes, item code or universal product code instead of using fax machines.”
• 20-year-old Anna Wange and 23-year old Jasmine Wang: another duo in the enterprise technology category, are featured for co-founding Copysmith AI, which “uses AI and machine learning to write copy for web assets.”
• 29-yearold Kaela Singleton was selected in the science category for her work as a “postdoctoral researcher at Emory University and adjunct professor at Agnes Scott College,” and says she “aims to empower other diverse scientists as the cofounder and president-elect of Black In Neuro.”
• 27-year-old Victor Lopez-Carmen, Harvard medical student, is honored in the healthcare category for founding Translations for our Nations, “a grant-funded program that translates accurate Covid-19 information in over 40 Indigenous languages,” and for developing “an Indigenous pipeline program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to increase representation in the healthcare workforce.”
• 29-year-old Brooke Nakatsukasa, a Vice President at Vista Equity Partners, is recognized in the finance category for, “[Leading] sourcing, ideation and execution of [Vista’s] largest fund. She has been involved in bringing companies like Ping Identity, Datto and IAS to the public markets, and sits on the boards of Integral Ad Science (NASDAQ: IAS) and iCIMS.”

Robert F. Smith Empowers Young People in STEM

Robert F. Smith is passionate about lifting up young people in underrepresented groups who want to pursue a career in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, especially because diversity in STEM is lacking. According to a report by Undark, which analyzed data from the National Science Foundation, only 6.2% of science and engineering graduates in 2016 were Black Americans, which is about 16% fewer than the number of Black STEM graduates in 2004.

Smith’s efforts to increase diversity in STEM is represented in his work as the founding director and President of Fund II Foundation, an organization that focuses on increasing economic opportunities for marginalized groups and supporting the growth and professional development of students pursuing careers in STEM fields.

Read about how Fund II Foundation is increasing educational and career opportunities for Black women and girls.