By tackling issues such as climate change, disabilities, mental health and elections, these social entrepreneurs create sustainable startups for lasting change.

By Jena McGregor, Alex Stuckey and Igor Bosilkovski

Lhow many entrepreneurs Maya Küppermann developed a tool she wished she had had in a previous job. After spending hours applying for grants for nonprofits — and then seeing how manual the data analysis process is for foundations that distribute money — she knew there was an opportunity to develop better technology for the nonprofit sector .

“This is a pretty slow-moving industry, and so there were just so many opportunities to learn even software basics and really change the way people work,” says Kuppermann, 28, co-founder of nonprofit tech company Temelio Ruthwick Pathireddy29. The duo are two of the 30 young innovators on this year’s Forbes Under 30 2025 Social Impact list.

She’s hardly the only one using personal experiences to build something new. Inspired by her own diagnosis of Lyme disease at age seven, Olivia Abrams25, co-founder of TiCK MiTT, a reusable tick removal solution. After a college friend confided in him that he wanted to die – over the course of a year, several other fellow students committed suicide –Jared Fenton29, founded the Reflect Organization, which provides college students with a safe forum for discussions about mental health. And Adeola Ajani26, the CEO of Fem Equity, founded the professional development company after discovering that in one of her first jobs she was paid 40% less than market wage and had a male colleague.

Another common theme on this year’s social impact list: new products or services that help people with disabilities or help improve accessibility. Luke Buckberrough24, co-founder of Glidance to help people with visual impairments. Rebecca Rosenberg26, also wanted to help with visual impairment by launching ReBokeh Vision Technologies, an assistive technology option for people with visual impairment, a condition she herself has due to albinism.

In the meantime, Nishit Bhasin24, and Lakshya Garg26, co-founder of Incskill to improve accessibility of websites and apps for people with disabilities, Anna Völker29, founded SciAccess to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities in STEM education and research, and Abhinav Chawla29, and Hamza Shaikh28, co-founder of Stabl, a digital health startup that allows anyone to access physical therapy from the comfort of their own home.

Then there are the list makers who are developing new ways to support the electoral process, which is particularly relevant at the end of a volatile presidential election year. This includes Will Long28, who founded Numinar to combine data, AI and software to help political campaigns, particularly those of candidates who didn’t vote, engage voters. Founder and CEO of Box the Ballot Daphne Frias26, has now collected more than 20,000 mail-in ballots during the 2020 midterm elections to maximize the potential of these ballots.

As is typical in this category, our 2025 list is also filled with innovators developing new solutions to address mental health and illness, climate change and environmental issues, and justice for those with fewer resources. In total, as a category, they have raised more than $100 million in funding.

The Under 30 List features funders and founders who are 29 years old or younger as of December 31, 2024 and have never previously been included on a North America, Europe or Asia 30 Under 30 list.

Following a public nomination process, each list is judged by a panel of industry leaders. For the “Social Impact” category, the 2025 list was evaluated by Jean caseChairman of the National Geographic Society and CEO of the Case Impact Network and Case Foundation; Cheryl DorseyPresident of Echoing Green, a global nonprofit organization that supports and invests in emerging social entrepreneurs; Abhi RameshFounder and CEO of Misfits Market, a direct-to-consumer online grocery marketplace focused on sustainability; And Randall LaneForbes Chief Content Officer.

Of those included in the final list, 56% identify as people of color and 44% are women.

This year’s 30 Under 30 Social Impact list was edited by Jena McGregor, Alex Stuckey and Igor Bosilkovski. For a link to our full list of social impact under 30: Click hereand for full coverage from 30 to 30 years Click here.

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