Forbes has recently unveiled its 4th annual list of the top entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders and superstars under 30. The Forbes 30 Under 30 recognizes 600 individuals across 20 sectors, from education and social entrepreneurship to energy and healthcare.
Three New Orleanians made the list from the thousands of nominations that were submitted this year. Get to know each one of them below:
Education
Libby Fischer – CEO, Whetstone Education
Fischer took over the helm of Whetstone in 2014, the platform that saves schools time, measures previously-immeasurable teacher trends, and connects teachers to instructional resources to drive their growth in the classroom. In short, Whetstone organizes and analyzes teacher development data. Prior to her current role, Fischer worked as the director of growth at the company for nearly two years.
Manufacturing & Industry
Alex Reed – Co-founder and CEO, Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies (APMT)
Reed co-founded APMT back in 2012, the New Orleans-based company that develops, manufactures and distributes products and services for the real time monitoring and control of polymer reactions across all synthetic and natural polymer sectors from R&D through high volume industrial production.
“This is a tremendous honor made possible by the years of hard work on the part of many extremely talented individuals, especially our team at APMT, Inc. and the very dedicated team at Prof.Wayne Reed’s laboratory at Tulane University over the years,” shares Reed. “This means a lot to all of us and is a direct tribute to what a great team, great technology and persistence can accomplish. I very much look forward to see what the future holds as we continue working together.”
Food & Drink
Emery Whalen – COO, Besh Restaurant Group
Whalen joined the Besh Restaurant Group in the summer of 2010 as Special Projects Manager, focusing on new projects, product launches and partnerships. She worked her way up over the years to her current position at the restaurant group, Chief Operating Office. She oversees operations at 12 restaurants, with a total of 800 employees. Whalen also helped launch and now runs the John Besh Foundation, which has been providing scholarships, grants and loans to farmers and prospective culinary students since 2011.
—————————————————————————————-——————————
This year’s Silicon Bayou 100 was made possible by sponsors 365 Connect, a leading provider of award-winning marketing, leasing and resident technology platforms for the multifamily housing industry, and LookFar, a software development studio. Beer from our beverage sponsor, the startup brewery Cajun Fire, will also be provided. 
