Each year Forbes releases its 30 Under 30 Lists, featuring 600 of the brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, breakout talents, and change agents in 20 different sectors. This year, 10 IES Abroad alumni are represented on these lists. They are diverse in both the fields and IES Abroad Centers that they represent. Our heartiest congratulations to these standout study abroad alumni:
Sophie Elgort (Buenos Aires, Fall 2006)–Art & Style
Sophie’s fashion photography has been published in Teen Vogue, Glamour, and the Financial Times, and she's shot for brands including Mercedes Benz, Clinique, and Topshop, among others. Sophie, born and raised in NYC, was pre-med at Brown University while majoring in Comparative Literature. After college while shooting for her friends' fashion line in exchange for clothing, she realized her true love was photography, so she followed in the footsteps of her father, fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, and launched her career.
Gemma Sole (London, Spring 2008)–Retail & Ecommerce
Gemma is the Co-Founder and COO of Nineteenth Amendment, a company helping connect up-and-coming designers with trendsetters to bridge the gap between design and delivery to produce what sells. Gemma graduated from the University of Rochester with degrees in Anthropology, Economics, English, and International Relations. After college, she participated in PayPal’s StartTank Incubator Program, New York’s Fashion Tech Lab, the Future Boston Alliances’ six month accelerator program, and was a Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year Scholar. Nineteenth Amendment was named one of NYC’s top 100 fashion companies in 2013.
Derek Chu (Salamanca, Summer 2011)–Venture Capital
Senior Associate at Menlo Adventures for the last three years, Derek helps find and fund start-up Internet products and services. Notable to his career include investments in Munchery, Riffsy, Synthego, The Black Tux, and Virool. Derek graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with honors, and was added to Business Insider’s 30 and Under Rising Stars in Silicon Valley in 2014. He’s a board member at NextGen Partners and is a board observer at four other companies. Derek was first exposed to tech investing while in college, when he worked with the 3 Day Startup accelerator program.
Abram Dawson (Paris Business & International Affairs, Fall 2010)–Venture Capital
Principal at SV Angel, Abram was developing mobile apps when he joined the team as in intern in 2012. At the San Francisco-based firm, Abram has helped startups like Clearbit, Launchkit, ProductHunt, TapTalk, and Vidme. He’s a graduate of Santa Clara University, where he studied Economics and International Business. During his undergraduate career, he designed several social-marketing mobile apps.
Lauren Kolodny (Barcelona, Summer 2006)–Venture Capital
Principal at Aspect Ventures, Lauren has been an early stage investor in The Muse, Latergramme, MobileAction, and Selfscore. Lauren graduated from Brown University with degrees in International Relations and Economic Development, and went on to complete her graduate programs in Sustainable Design and Business Administration at Stanford University. She worked in product marketing at Google, did cleantech partnerships in India, and is a board member at NextGen Partners and Brown University.
Tyler Sosin (Beijing, 2006-07)–Venture Capital
Principal at Menlo Ventures, Tyler’s focus in on enterprise software. Tyler is a graduate of Stanford University, where he studied International Relations and Analysis. In between roles at Menlo, Tyler spent time in London sourcing investments at Accel Partners. His current portfolio includes DataXu, Dstillery, FiveStars, Pillpack, Readyforce, RealtyShares, and Stance. Tyler is also an angel investor in Deliveroo, which raised more than $100 million in Series D funding late last year.
Nedgine Paul (Salamanca, Summer 2006 & Arles, Summer 2007)–Social Entrepreneurs
Co-Founder of Anseye Pou Ayiti, Nedgine is a Haitian woman who created an organization that aims to help raise education outcomes in underserved and rural areas of Haiti by recruiting and training high-quality teachers from local schools. Nedgine graduated with a B.A. in History from Yale University, and went one to complete her M.Ed. in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She received the Echoing Green Fellowship in 2014 and was named one of the top global social innovators. Nedgine speaks Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole.
Kendall Turner (Milan, Summer 2006)–Law & Policy
Co-Founder of Proyecto Villa Nueva, Kendall will soon be starting as an Associate at the law firm Jenner & Block. The non-profit she co-founded, Proyecto Villa Nueva, focuses on creating educational opportunities for youth in the urban areas of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Kendall recently finished a clerkship with Stephen Breyer, an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Philosophy, and went on to obtain her J.D. from Stanford University. Kendall has contributed to a book about criminal law in Bhutan, and is currently writing her own book about money management for young women. She’s also written several legal articles.
Natasha Wright (Nantes, Fall 2010)–Energy
A Doctoral candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Natasha’s research focuses on using electrodialysis technology to engineer desalination systems that remove the salt from groundwater in rural parts of India. The system she is engineering runs on solar power, and, in time, she hopes ranchers will be able to use it in arid areas of the United States to support increased water supply for livestock. Natasha completed her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. In 2015 her MIT team’s research won USAID’s Desal Prize in their Securing Water project.
David Narrow (Sydney, Spring 2010)–Healthcare
CEO of Sonavex, David has raised more than $1 million to develop a device called EchoSure, an ultrasound-based device for early detection of blood clots in surgical patients. David graduated with his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester, and went on to complete his MSE in Bioengineering Innovation and Design at The Johns Hopkins University. David also runs MonoMano Cycling, a company that developed and markets adaptive bikes and other equipment for stroke survivors.
Take your career to the top when you study abroad on one of our programs!
