NextGen Leaders is pleased to share that NextGen Fellow (’19) Michael Hamamoto Tribble, 28, of San Francisco, California, was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 honorees in the education category. Forbes received nearly 20,000 nominations for the 2020 class of young entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. Only 600 finalists were accepted—30 each, in 20 categories ranging from venture capital to social entrepreneurship.
As Head of Education Strategy at Google Cloud, Michael creates and oversees creative initiatives to arm young, code-writing geniuses with powerful tools and platforms. He and his team are prominent at hackathons across the globe, helping over 90,000 students access the Cloud for free at some 200 events including those at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), women’s colleges, and the Ivy League. He’s currently working to establish these and similar programs well beyond the borders of the United States, and notes that by equipping people in developing countries with the powerful tools he and his colleagues have to offer, they hope to contribute to a narrowing of global wealth and welfare gaps.
Michael is an alumnus of Teach For America, an organization and cause that he cares deeply about to this day. He still fondly recalls the day in the classroom where he learned that Google had fully-funded every DonorsChoose project in the Bay Area, including the one he had set up to help resource his middle school special education classroom. Using these experiences as a foundation for his current work, he always looks for opportunities to give back and will never refuse a conversation with current Teach For America corps members.
“It’s no surprise that Michael’s keen intellect, empathy and ability to see a better, more inclusive tomorrow, not to mention his exceptional organizational and communication skills, persuaded the Forbes judges,” said Dr. John Tedstrom, Founder and CEO of NextGen Leaders. “I was pleased to nominate him based on his participation in the NextGen Leaders program and to explain how his LGBTQ identity helps inform his vision, order his priorities and shape his personal leadership style.”
“I am deeply humbled and incredibly honored to be joining a class of such incredible superstars. For years now, I’ve excitedly watched as friends and colleagues have made 30 Under 30 and it’s surreal now to have made the list myself”, said Michael. “Growing up as a gay kid in a conservative town like Colorado Springs, I never could have imagined where my life would end up today, but I’m so incredibly grateful that with hard work and perseverence, these types of dreams do come true.”