Forbes’ annual “30 Under 30” lists strive to highlight bright young minds in many different industries, from media and entertainment to science and healthcare.
The 2021 lists, released Dec. 1, include three Commerce School alumni who are part of a total of 11 University of Virginia alums, selected from thousands of nominations by a panel of judges that included Taylor Swift, Warner Bros. Chairman Channing Dungey, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Salesforce Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Buscemi, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, and legendary tennis player Billie Jean King.
Meet the McIntire Hoos who made the 10th annual list.
Cecil White (McIntire ’15) – Sports
White is one of the youngest agents at sports agency William Morris Endeavor, or WME. According to Forbes, White’s clients have included tennis stars Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka, NFL quarterbacks Cam Newton and Joe Burrow, NBA star Kawhi Leonard, and LPGA Tour golfer Michelle Wie.
Since joining the firm in 2018, the Forbes citation notes, White has overseen more than 15 deals worth more than $17 million.
White, an active Comm School alumnus, served as a guest on the “Game Changers: How Athletes, Startups, and Industry Giants Disrupt the World of Sports” panel for the School’s 2019 Fall Forum, “The Business of Sports,” where he discussed the evolving landscape for brands and athletes creating new methods of engagement with fans and media.
Taylor Gilland (McIntire ’13) – Venture Capital
Gilland, a Commerce graduate with a second major in Economics, now helps lead the private investment team at Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco. He has invested in some high-profile companies that have since gone public, such as Slack, creator of a now-ubiquitous workplace messaging tool.
Prior to his work at Dragoneer, Gilland worked for well-known investment firms The Blackstone Group and TPG Capital. According to the Forbes bio, he helped launch a social impact investing fund, the Rise Fund, that is the largest of its kind, and also runs a North Carolina café with his mother called The Purple Bowl.
Gilland was a varsity track and cross country athlete at UVA.
Solomon Hailu (McIntire ’15) – Venture Capital
Hailu, who graduated from the Comm School with concentrations in Accounting and Finance, is a Vice President at venture capital firm March Capital, which he joined in September. Prior to that, he worked for Tusk Venture Partners, where he invested in companies like Coinbase, a cryptocurrency platform. He is also a board member of BLCK VC, a nonprofit focused on supporting and growing the number of Black investors.
Hailu, a first-generation college student who immigrated to the U.S. from Ethiopia, currently volunteers as a mentor for both the TEAK Fellowship, a New York City program, and SEO Scholars, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a free eight-year academic program helping low-income public high school students enroll in and graduate from college.
Read about all 11 of the University of Virginia alumni to make Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists at UVA Today.
See the full collection of 2021 lists at Forbes.
