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30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs

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It was a standing ovation no one expected, least of all 26-year-old Maggie Doyne, trembling with nervousness as she addressed the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy in June. After all, the audience consisted of 161 billionaire and near-billionaires, from Warren Buffett to Oprah Winfrey, Steve Case to Melinda Gates. And here was Doyne, who had just traveled halfway around the world, with only the basics of her talk sketched out, about to follow Jon Bon Jovi on the stage.

Yet her 6-minute address, which detailed how the New Jersey native turned $5,000 in baby-sitting money into the Kopila Valley Children's Home and School, transforming the lives of hundreds of orphans in Nepal in the process, brought this inherently-skeptical group to its feet (and tears to more than a few eyes). It was one of only two standing ovations of the day – Buffett received the other – and a testament to the power of someone determined to change the world.

This inaugural 30 Under 30 for social entrepreneurs is full of others who share that conviction, as well as the talent, the business model and the proven results to back it up. Besides Doyne, there’s James Whelton, whose Coder Dojo each week allows more than 10,000 kids, in 22 countries, to learn coding skills for free. Sejal Hathi, a Yale student who has come up with three different enterprises to help young girls in more than 100 countries. Hugh Evans, who pulled off the Global Citizen concert in Central Park that leveraged the likes of Neil Young and the Foo Fighters to generated hundreds of millions in pledges to end world poverty.

Membership in this club was tough to come by. Forbes staff writer Erin Carlyle developed a list of more than 100 tentative candidates. From there, our team engaged in a serious round of due diligence, followed by extensive debate, in-person, on the phone and via email. Our esteemed judging panel: Ashoka founder Bill Drayton, Echoing Green president Cheryl Dorsey and the head of the Manhattan Institute’s social entrepreneurship initiative, Howard Husock, abetted by yours truly.

With membership comes opportunity. A handful from this group will be chose to speak at the 2013 Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, the most influential audience ever assembled to discuss using entrepreneurship to solve the world’s most intractable problems. Perhaps some even have a standing ovation in their future.

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FULL LIST: Forbes 30 Under 30

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IN PHOTOS: 30 Under 30 In Social Entrepreneurs

VIDEO: Hugh Evans: Eradicate Global Poverty