By Kathryn Dill and Christopher Denhart, with Daniel Fisher and Avik Roy.
The dynamos and politicos on this list hold JDs from top law schools, have founded companies that want to automate due process, and play right hand to the most powerful people at every level of American society. Theirs are the young voices that will be shaping U.S. policymaking from both the public and private sectors as president-elect Donald J. Trump takes office later this month, and together they make up Forbes' 2017 list of the 30 Under 30 in Law & Policy.
To arrive on this list, candidates were culled from among law schools, professional organizations, the upper echelons of politics and law, and the top ranks of the most promising startups in the field--as well as from a pool of hundreds of online nominations.
The final list is based on the recommendations of some of the most esteemed voices in the arena: American Enterprise Institute President Arthur C. Brooks, Yale Law School's John A. Garver professor of jurisprudence William Eskridge, Jr., New America president and CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter, and OpenGov cofounder (and Under 30 alum) Nate Levine.
Among those looking to harness technology to make legal proceedings more efficient and affordable are the cofounders of ROSS Intelligence, Andrew M.J. Arruda, Jimoh Ovbiagele, and Pargles Dall-Oglio, who built a legal research engine that uses artificial intelligence to provide everything from citations to full legal briefs. With financial backing from international law firm Dentons, ROSS already has partnerships with institutions including Latham & Watkins and Vanderbilt Law.
Jonathan Perichon and Daniel Yanisse cofounded Checkr to make background checks more straightforward, building and API and online tool that automate the process. The company has raised nearly $50 million to date, including a $40 million series B in March 2016 led by Y Combinator.
Operating inside the Beltway are folks like Elizabeth Kelly, who, as Special Assistant to the President, focused on retirement, and was one of the key figures behind the Department of Labor's controversial conflict of interest rule. She recently joined United Income as Director of Policy. Ryan Burke, another Special Assistant to President Obama, designed and launched the White House's TechHire Initiative and led White House engagement on job training issues.
Sarah McBride, National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign, made history this summer with a speech delivered at the Democratic National Convention, where she became the first transgender woman to speak at a major political convention. Jamira Burley, having previously worked for Amnesty International and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, served as National Deputy Millennial Vote Director for Hillary for America.
And while some on our list are considering what comes after the White House, others are on their way into its hallowed halls. Hope Hicks, who served as a one-woman press team for Trump's historic presidential campaign, will soon occupy a desk in the West Wing as Strategic Communications Director for the new administration.
Beyond Washington, Ryan Walsh serves as Chief Deputy Solicitor General of the state of Wisconsin. Svante Myrick was elected Mayor of Ithaca, New York, at the age of 24, inheriting a $3 million budget deficit which he closed while lowering taxes.
Some on our list are charged with finding common ground among public and private interests on behalf of major organizations. Kate Aitken is Chief of Staff for Federal Policy & Federal Affairs at Airbnb, where she works to develop policies that combat discrimination on the company's platform. Andrew Rausa serves as Advertising & Privacy Counsel for Facebook, where he works with the social media behemoth's engineering and and product teams to ensure that the site's offerings consider users' privacy concerns.
For full coverage of Forbes' 2017 30 Under 30 Law & Policy, click here.
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