Five Bryan School of Business and Economics students represented UNC Greensboro as Forbes Under 30 Scholars at the Forbes Under 30 Summit.
The scholars included Carlena Neely, a junior studying information systems management; Lark Tibbs, a senior studying international business; Jaimon Mcmillian, a junior studying information systems management; Lauren Kalo, a junior studying marketing and entrepreneurship; and MBA student J’Ness Ogarro.
The Under 30 Scholars are chosen based on various criteria that includes a written statement about how they embody the Under 30 tenets of leadership and innovation. The Forbes Under 30 Scholars program provides scholarship funding to allow 1,000 students to join young leaders at the annual Forbes Under 30 Summit in Detroit Oct. 27-30. The Summit honors investors, entrepreneurs, celebrities, cultural icons, educators, and political leaders, among others, who represent the entrepreneurial spirit of the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
At the summit, the students participated in an immersive four-day experience comprised of talks from A-list speakers, investor-speed pitching, industry-focused field trips, a day of community service, and a private music festival.
The speakers included NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, actress Sophia Bush, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Digital Officer of Target Rick Gomez, Head of Research and Cloud AI of Google Tomas Pfister, and CEO of Quicken Loans Jay Farner.
International business major Lark Tibbs’ favorite part of the summit was hearing from keynote speaker Serena Williams, who gave investing advice and inspired her to keep making a seat for herself at the table.
“It was phenomenal and empowering,” said Tibbs.
Jaimon Mcmillian left the summit motivated and excited for his professional future.
“Learning about all of the different possibilities and opportunities the world has to offer drives me to be my best,” he said. “The connections that I made at the summit planted the seeds that will grow into networking and professional opportunities in the future.”
Forbes works with schools across the U.S. with strengths in different areas to ensure that a diverse set of high-achieving students from many universities participates in the Forbes Under 30 program and summit. While rubbing elbows with students from schools like Harvard and Yale, the five Spartans who attended were proud to represent UNCG.
“Representing UNCG at the summit was an honor because we got to put UNCG on the map,” said Tibbs.
Story by Alexandra McQueen, University Communications
Photo courtesy of Jaimon Mcmillian
