30 Under 30

At Pixar, she’s worked on films including Coco, Incredibles 2, and Soul. And now, in a side project, she's co-producing a short animated film called Washed.

Growing up, Flavio Bravo knew he wanted to be like labor leader César Chávez. Today, he works to enhance the underrepresented vote in the U.S.

While Cameron Grant was finishing up her graduate program online due to the pandemic, her unit at Children’s Hospital of Orange County became a COVID-19 unit.

A NASA weather scientist needs help predicting superstorms? Brad Kenstler can help with that. A football coach wants to know the probability of this wide receiver making that catch? Kenstler can do that, too.

At the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Miriam Uribe ensures that domestic workers know their value and know their rights — and that their employers know them, too.

Oprah owns one of her paintings. So does Tarell McCraney, who wrote the screenplay for Moonlight. “My mom says that I lead an enchanted life, and sometimes I believe her when things start to line up that way,” Taylor Smalls says.

In an era in which convenience is king, Brendan Herger explores ways for machine learning to make our lives easier and safer.

"When Black trans women are free, everyone will be free." Alex Binsfeld has been a transgender rights activist since high school, and has done so professionally since graduating from UC Hastings law school in 2019.

Ebraheem Alghafees thought he’d major in physics and engineering at USF and become an engineer. But after learning he had stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he decided life was too short for a path he felt pressured into by his parents.

India Buckley is proud that her outgoing personality makes her an anomaly as a software engineer. "There is no mold you have to fit to be an engineer. You can make your own mold," she says.

Had a bad day? Need some cheering up? Ask Araceli Leon—co-author of children's book What Would the World Be Without Latinos?—to tell you a story.

As a student at USF, Nicholas Grayson spent at least four hours a day playing video games. "Now I get paid to play," he says.

Growing up, Selenne Alatorre lacked access to grocery stores with healthy food choices. Now, she provides underserved kids with resources to make healthier choices.

After earning an engineering degree from Georgia Tech, Danae Robinson had a thought: “If I had to wake up and do this every day, is it something that I really want to do?” she says. She switched gears and enrolled in law school at USF.

“Perseverance” is the word Frankie Ferrari uses when asked to describe his long and bumpy journey from high school basketball player to point guard in Spain’s top basketball league.

NBC named Brenna Malloy one of five women in Female Forward, a program that gives female directors a chance to direct an episode of an NBC show. Since then, she has directed three episodes of Chicago Fire at NBC plus one episode of 9-1-1 at Fox.

What do you do when you’re 19 and in jail on a felony conviction? Antonio Reza resolved to go to college — and then law school.

Lucas Waldron produces videos, writes investigative stories, and teaches at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. "I'm teaching students about my favorite part of what I do, the intersection of news and video."

When Sarah Toutant was a student at the Hilltop, USF didn’t have a Black Scholars program. She helped to change that.

Mitchell Zvagelskiy isn’t your typical college junior. He runs Scale Online, an ecommerce company that manages over $4 million in products.

As a kid growing up in California’s Inland Empire, Laura Flores would listen to her family discuss politics over the dinner table. She wasn’t quite sure how government worked, but she knew she wanted to be a part of it.

By day, Eiselle Ty is an illustrator at the Olio design agency in Berkeley. By night, she's an Instagractivist.

When the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raid a community of undocumented immigrants, Edwin Carmona-Cruz knows what to do.

While pursuing a master's in computer science at USF, Tian Rong Liew had an idea to build a network for coders to connect, share their knowledge, and find jobs. Showcase, the startup Liew founded before graduation, goes a step further.

Before the world had ever heard of COVID-19, Sarah Ives was working to fight it.

Next time you enjoy a slice of salmon, thank Paul Cook. If not for hatcheries like his, the wild salmon population would be depleted beyond recovery.

When Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to work as a full-time coach in Major League Baseball, the league directed its 30 teams to create locker-room space for women.

In her career, Vanessa Barba has advocated for domestic workers, restaurant workers, and garment workers. “But I always find myself going back to domestic workers because they need help the most,” she says.

Brian Rezende works on the diagnostic front lines fighting COVID-19.

Galina Lang runs a startup that makes reusable bottles for lovers of boba. She's sold over 2,500 bottles to customers around the world.