Mason Alum Participates in Forbes Under 30 Summit

Recent New Century College (NCC) graduate Ayrielle LeGrande joined 1,500 other innovative young leaders at the third annual Forbes Under 30 Summit. The summit was held in Philadelphia from October 19 to 22. Presenters included Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and Jean and Steve Case of the Case Foundation.

LeGrande is co-founder of CDNB Inc. (Chase Dreams Not Boys), a nonprofit organization seeking to support “at promise” young women as they navigate their teen years. LeGrande works as a consultant manager at The Digital Decision, LLC, an organization with a mission to establish true nationwide interoperable communications for first responders. She also founded Dilane Consulting which is engaged in the public safety sector. LeGrande’s energy and ideas got her to the summit, through a competitive application process.

“I was excited to be invited to attend… and amazed by the energy in the group.”

According to Forbes the purpose of the summit is to bring together today’s young leaders and provide the space and opportunity for people to meet, exchange ideas, make connections and be mentored by top industry leaders. Panel discussions and TED-style talks were interspersed with opportunities to pitch ideas to industry leaders and financiers.

Attendees represented 15 different fields ranging from art and music to social change, finance, marketing and sports. All attendees were selected by Forbes based on a competitive application process in which applicants demonstrated their innovation, commitment and aspirations.

LeGrande maximized her time at the summit, meeting other like-minded social innovators and discussing opportunities to create positive social change. She hopes to apply many new ideas to her work with CDNB, The Digital Decision and Dilane. And, she hopes to have the opportunity to attend next year’s summit as well.

“I’m so excited about what our generation is doing. We’re so powerful.”