LONDON (January 16, 2017) – Anisa Haghdadi, Founder of Beatfreeks from Birmingham, UK, in the Social Entrepreneurs category, was named to Forbes’ second annual “30 Under 30 Europe” list, a list that features 300 young innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders across Europe who are under 30 years of age and who are transforming business, technology, finance, media, culture and more, as judged by some of the most accomplished and acclaimed individuals in each category. For the full list, please visit: www.forbes.com/30under30europe.
Anisa Haghdadi, 26, is Founder and CEO of Beatfreeks and Doink, companies using creativity for social good. Anisa has won multiple awards for social enterprise, youth development and cultural leadership and was awarded a British Empire Medal, aged 23, for Services to Education and Young People and is the youngest person to receive an Honorary Doctorate from Aston University as part of their 50 Year celebrations recognising ‘pioneers of change’. Anisa is an UnLtd Fast Growth Winner 2014, which “backs ambitious entrepreneurs solving Britain’s social problems at scale” and was most recently recognised by The Observer and NESTA in 2016 as one of 50 new radicals changing the UK for the better. Anisa is fiercely passionate about telling stories, building communities and inspiring action. Her life mission to facilitate amazing collaborations which help people to get ‘how their worlds work’.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list covers 10 categories – Arts, Entertainment, Finance, Industry, Media, Policy, Retail & Ecommerce, Science & Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurs and Technology – with each of the honorees vetted by a panel of expert judges in their respective fields.
Randall Lane, Editor of Forbes, said “Researching, vetting and launching Forbes’ second annual 30 Under 30 Europe list was an incredible task. We scoured the continent to find the most talented millennials and, with the help of our expert judges, are proud to honor 300 of the most important young entrepreneurs, creative leaders and brightest stars in Europe right now.”
The criteria for honorees making the list included leadership and disruption in their field; entrepreneurial mindset and results; and the likelihood of changing their field over the next half-century.
The judges have created a unique list of the 300 prodigious stars who are making a difference in our world. The judges were:
· Arts: Jeremy Till of University of the Arts London, Chef Heinz Beck, and Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani;
· Entertainment: Forbes editor Mike Ozanian, Afrojack, and British director SJ Clarkson;
· Finance: Klaus Hommels of Lakestar, Henning Potstada of DWS, and Sonali De Rycker of Accel Ventures;
· Industry: Phillip Greenish of Royal Academy, Stephane Israel of Arianespace, and former 30 Under 30 Honoree Cornel Amariei of Continental Automotive Systems;
· Media: Kai Diekmann of Bild, Antonia Rados of RTL Group, and Max Guen of Magna Carta TV;
· Policy: Josef Janning of European Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Youngs of Carnegie, Endowment Europe, and Brigid Laffan of European University Institute;
· Retail: Amber Atherton of My Flash Trash and Dharmash Mistry of blow LTD;
· Science: Barbara Prainsack of King’s College London, Jason Levine of IT and Clinical Informatics at National Cancer Institute, and Iain Woodhouse of University of Edinburgh;
· Social Entrepreneurs: Forbes Editor Randall Lane, Cheryl Green from Echoing Green, and Jean Case from Case Foundation;
· Tech: Brent Hoberman of Lastminute.com, former 30 Under 30 Honoree Ophelia Brown at Local Globe, and Tom Hulme of Google Ventures.
The complete list, along with video interviews with some of the honorees, is online at www.forbes.com/30under30europe.
Forbes’ Under 30 franchise is a global multichannel platform, that comprises 30 Under 30 lists featuring young global game changers published in print and online all over the world; live summits in the U.S., Asia and Israel; an Under 30 channel on Forbes.com; and a Forbes Under 30 app. To access Forbes magazine’s 2017 30 Under 30 U.S. list, please visit www.forbes.com/30under30.
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For Beatfreeks media please contact Bradley@beatfreeks.com
Forbes Media Contact: Laura Daunis, ldaunis@forbes.com or 212-367-4874
Europe Media Contact: Rose Schreiber, rose.schreiber@hawthornlondon.com or +44 (0) 20 3745 4971
Photography by Peter Cripps.