30 Under 30 2018: The Teenagers

Do you remember what you were up to at age 13? How about 19? These 14 teenage 30 Under 30s will inspire you -- and maybe make you a little bit jealous.

The broad and often high-tech impact of 20-somethings on popular culture and politics, the scientific community and startups world is clear from this year's Forbes 30 Under 30. But this pool of 600 superstars would not be complete without acknowledging the inspiring work of 14 extraordinary teens, ranging in age from 12 to 19.

There have always been prodigies of jaw-dropping talent and intellect. Alexander Pope, Pablo Picasso, Bobby Fisher and even Tiger Woods. And where would classical music, or any music, for that matter, be without the towering child genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? 

by Forbes

14 Teens On The 2018 30 Under 30 List

Marley Davis, 12, Founder, #1000blackgirlbooks,

She has collected tens of thousands of books featuring black female protagonists. Her work earned her an invitation to the Obama White House and a book deal with global children's publishing company Scholastic.

Henry Burner, 14, Founder, Buttonsmith

A fourth-grade class project on trading turned into a button, magnet and lanyard business. He sells on Amazon and has nine adult employees.

Annie Ostojic, 15, Inventor

High school student has invented a better microwave oven and a system to collect "solar" power from indoor lighting and use it to charge batteries. 

Peyton Robertson, 16, Inventor

He already holds five patents for inventions, including a sandbag to combat seawater flooding and a bike with retractable training wheels. He's published a paper in the Journal of Tropical Diseases, founded a non-profit for STEM education and is the youngest winner of both the National STEM Education Award and the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

Jackie Evancho, 17, Classical Singer

Many first learned of the teenage opera prodigy when she performed at Donald Trump's inauguration, but by that point, her career was already well on its way. Since making her debut on America's Got Talent at age 10, Evancho has released six consecutive No. 1 Classical albums.

Jamel Toppin for Forbes

Amandla Stenberg, 19, Actor

Hannah Herbst, 17, Inventor

Invented a device to capture energy from ocean waves. Called BEACON (Bringing Electricity Access to Countries through Ocean Energy), she intends to deploy the system in developing countries where it can power water purification and medical equipment. 

Madina Nalwanga, 17, Actor

Born in Kampala, Uganda, Nalwanga was discovered by a casting director in a community dance class before landing her lead role in Disney's Queen of Katwe. She received numerous accolades for her acting debut, including an NAACP Image Award, a Women Film Critics Circle Award and Critics Choice Award nominations.

Yara Shahidi, 17, Actor

The Minnesota native made a big splash on the small screen when she was only 14, playing Zoe Johnson on Black-ish. An outspoken advocate for diversity in Hollywood among other issues, Shahidi is currently working on a spinoff series, Grown-ish.

Ethan Novek, 18, Founder, Innovator Energy

A chemical engineering student at Yale, Ethan has 12 patents for CO2 technologies that promise to capture more than half of the carbon dioxide from power plant emissions at a cost of less than $8 per ton.

Amber Yang, 18, Founder, SEER Tracking

Yang wants to solve an ever-growing problem: space junk. For the past three years, she's worked to improve the way space junk is tracked so that spacecraft and satellites can avoid it. 

Jacob Boudreau, 19, Cofounder, Stord

Provides on-demand flexible warehousing. It doesn't own warehouses but uses software to connect businesses in need of storage and distribution to independent warehouses with excess capacity. Stord manages everything from ordering to inventory management and billing.

Micah Fowler, 19, Actor

In the rare instances disabled characters are depicted onscreen, they're oftentimes portrayed by able-bodied actors. Not so with JJ DiMeo, Fowler's character on ABC's "Speechless." Born with cerebral palsy, Fowler plays a teenager with the same condition who is unable to speak. He is also an ambassador for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

Khalid, 19, Musician, R&B

Buoyed by smash single "Location," the singer's debut album--"American Teen," released in March--went to No. 4 on the charts and earned platinum certification from the RIAA, along with heaps of critical praise. Next up: an international tour that's taking him from Auckland to Amsterdam.

Amandla Stenberg, 19, Actor-Author

After landing a part as Rue in 2012's Hunger Games, she starred in an adaptation of the YA bestseller Everything, Everything, which grossed a healthy $61.5 million on a $10 million budget. She is also the coauthor of the graphic novel series Niobe: She Is Life, the first to be internationally distributed with a black female author, artist and main character. 

Elvis Zhang, 19, Founder, Oxy2

 Elvis was only 13-years-old when he moved from Asia to the US and began pursuing research on combatting pollution. That research laid the groundwork for Oxy2, which he chose to pursue instead of college this past year, to help design cleaner cities.