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30 Under 30 2016: The Year's Leaders Who Are Unleashing Learning For All

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We shouldn't need hot-button issues like the deeply flawed college admissions race, DREAM Act and emerging landscape of K-12 digital learning to remind us that educational opportunities matters -- to all of us. Luckily, it's self-evident to the women and men who earned a spot on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education.

Their spirit of innovating in education is deeply original. They range from edtech entrepreneurs such as literacy champions Matthew Ramirez, cofounder of WriteLab, and Quill's cofounder Peter Gault, and Rebecca Liebman, whose LearnLux focuses on financial literacy. Zaption's Charlie Stigler has trained his focus on video learning as a dynamic teaching tool. Cassandra Tognoni of BookReport uses data to help districts figure out best practices for spending and saving, and Christopher Pedregal has $7.5 million in funding to crowdsource learning to Socratic's 8.5 million customers.

Increased access to learning for all startups are prominent in this year's list. Heejae Lim, founder of Talking Points, built an app that bridges the language barrier between teachers and non-English speaking parents, while Sarahi Espinoza Salamonca's app helps undocumented students find money to go to college. Chelsey Roebuck, cofounder of Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE), left the consulting fast track to increase job opportunities minorities underrepresented in STEM fields.

SEE THE FULL LIST: FORBES 30 Under 30 Class of 2016

We need funders and independent thinkers to remind us that more innovation and problem solving is still to come. Kate Machtiger, senior analyst at Luminary Labs, launched a series of student competitions with the U.S. Dept. of Education, Constance Iloh is a postdoctoral fellow who explores "narratives of underserved students" in postsecondary education, and EdSurge Senior Editor Mary Jo Madda is a relentlessly thoughtful chronicler of the entire sector.

Finally, this year's 30 Under 30 in eucation is a true transgenerational effort. Many thanks for the insight and expertise to our panel of judges: Stacey Childress, CEO, NewSchools Venture Fund; Laurene Powell Jobs, founder, Emerson Collective; Wendy Kopp, CEO, Teach for All; and Sarah Kunst, an alumni from the 2015 list.

Here, the full list for 2016:

Milagros Barsallo, 28, cofounder, RISE Colorado

Logan Cohen, 25, & Trevor Wilkins, 27, cofounders, Kudzoo

Andrew Colchagoff, 29, cofounder, GingkoTree

David Comisford, 29, founder, EduSourced

Connor Diemand-Yauman, 27, corporate partnerships lead, Coursera

Eric Duffy, 27, cofounder, Pathgather

Maggie Dunne, 25, founder, Lakota Children's Enrichment

Sarah Filman, 29, VP, Curriculum, Code.org

Libby Fischer, 27, CEO, Whetstone Education

Peter Gault, 27, founder, Quill

Constance Iloh, 28, chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Irvine School of Education

Zach Latta, 18 & Jonathan Leung, 25, cofounder,  Hack Club

Eric Lavin, 28, founding manager, Aspen Ventures

Heejae Lim, 29, founder, TalkingPoints

Amy Lin, 29, founder, BlendSpace

Mary Jo Madda, 29, senior editor, EdSurge

Gabriel Nakashima, 28, founder, Charter Substitute Teacher Network

Marcus Noel, 29, founder, Heart of Man

Christopher Pedregal, 29, cofounder, Socratic

Matthew Ramirez, 26,cofounder, WriteLab

Jerelyn Rodriguez, 26, cofounder, The Knowledge House

Chelsey Roebuck, 27, cofounder, Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering

Carissa Romero, 29, cofounder, Project for Education Research That Scales

Sarahi Consuelo Espinoza Salamanca, 26, founder,  DREAMers RoadMap

Aneesh Sohoni, 27, project director, The New Teachers Project

Aza Steel, 25 & Advait Shinde, 25, cofounders, GoGuardian

Cassandra Tognoni, 28, cofounder, BookReport

Esther Tricoche, 29, associate partner, NewSchools Venture Fund

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