This month Forbes magazine came out with their annual 30 under 30 issue, highlighting 600 talented young adults from all over the world and their numerous contributions in 20 sectors including sports, entertainment, science, social entrepreneurs, food and drink, marketing and advertising, and media. This issue we highlight a few of these dynamic young Black women for Women’s History Month; the brave, bold new voices changing the status quo their way.
Kelechi Anyadiegwu
Kelechi Anyadiegwu, 26, USA; Founder, Zuvaa–Carnegie-Mellon University grad Anyadiegwu, who received her Masters degree in human computer interaction, discovered it was hard to find African-inspired clothing and accessories here in the USA. So she created Zuvaa, an e-commerce destination for merchants from the diaspora to sell their products.
Candace Mitchell
Candace Mitchell, 28, USA; Co-founder, Techturized, Inc.–The Georgia Tech graduate, along with co-partner Chanel Martin, wants to revolutionize the multi-billion dollar hair care market through technology. She currently has developed a mobile app, Myvana, that serves as a ‘concierge’ for black hair care; connecting clients and stylists, and providing a community for photo sharing and hair care tips.
Kim Foster
Kimberly Foster, 26, USA; Founder, ForHarriet.com–Foster launched ForHarriet.com as an undergrad at Harvard University to be a online community for women of color. Foster’s website has now expanded to five website properties; and she regularly searches blogs, YouTube and personal podcasts to find talented women to work with.
Christine Souffrant
Christine Souffrant, 26, United Arab Emirates; Founder, Vendedy--The daughter of Haitian street merchants, Souffrant developed Vendedy after discovering how street merchants were being exploited by third party buyers of their wares throwing them into a cycle of poverty. Vendedy links the merchants directly with local vendors avoiding third parties. Souffrant’s company is now valued at $2 million and is digitizing the black market economy.
Angelica Nwandu
Angelica Nwandu, 25, USA; Founder, The Shade Room–The celebrity gossip website, which Nwandu first began on Instagram, The Shade Room, is so popular it reports as many as 2.5 million followers and a growing number of 100,000 followers every 10 days.
Mo’ne Davis (AP Photo/Harper Collins)
Mo’ne Davis, 14, USA; Award-winning Little League Pitcher–Philadelphia’s Mo’ne Davis has accomplished much in her 14 years; she was the first African American girl to compete in the Little League World Series; the first to win and pitch a shutout during the Little League World Series and the first Little Leaguer featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Now in high school, Davis is also very active in her community and plays basketball.
Catherine Mahugu
Catherine Mahugu, 27, Kenya; founder of Soko–Mahugu’s company provides opportunities for 1,000 Sub Saharan Africa jewelry artisans by connecting them to a global marketplace, doubling the artists’ income. Soko products are available online and in upscale stores such as Nordstroms and Anthropologie.
Doreen St. Felix (Photo by Katie McCurdy)
Doreen St. Felix, 23, USA; Editor-at-Large, Lenny—St. Felix is part of the launch team for ‘Girls’ star Lena Dunham’s Lenny newsletter which included Dunham and former Jezebel writer Jessica Grose. The newsletter already has 400,000 subscribers. St. Felix also writes for The New Yorker, New York Times, n+1, Pitchfork and others. She also worked as a consultant on director Steve McQueen’s HBO pilot, Codes of Conduct.
Zim Ugochukwu
Zim Ugochukwu, 27, USA; Founder, Travel Noire–Frustrated with not being able to find pictures on Instagram of young Black travellers like herself, Zim Ugochukwu started the travel website Travel Noire. Featuring articles with travel tips and tools to make travel easier, Ugochukwu now has over 180,000 followers and a weekly online travel show, Travel Noire TV.
Heben Nigatu
Heben Nigatu, 24, USA; Senior Editor, BuzzFeed–Nigatu cohosts highly popular website BuzzFeed’s podcast show, “Another Round,” which boasts high-profile guests including Hillary Clinton and has attracted hundreds of thousands of listeners.
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