Three alumni named to 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list
For the second year in a row, three alumni from Connecticut College have made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list: Ipek Bakir ’12, James Finucane ’13 and Daniel Shoukimas ’13 have been named to the list of the world’s brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders and stars for 2019.
Bakir, who majored in government and self-designed a second major in urban studies at Conn, is considered a rising star of the education-focused Overdeck Family Foundation. She is a founding member of a major nonprofit that screens edtech products. At the Foundation, Bakir guides investments in student-centered school models, high-quality professional learning programs, and school capacity for monitoring and collecting data. Her Innovative School portfolio has helped award over $5 million in grants reaching over 200 school and 75,000 students.
“My work at the Foundation focuses on ensuring every child has access to an education that meets both academic and socio-emotional needs,” Bakir said.
Finucane, who majored in mathematics, and Shoukimas, who majored in art history, are two of three co-founders of mPharma, a healthcare startup that manages pharmaceutical inventory on behalf of mom and pop pharmacies across Africa. Headquartered in Ghana, mPharma serves close to 30,000 patients each month across a network of over 150 pharmacies and has $12 million in funding.
