While Forbes celebrates its “30 Under 30” honorees in Columbus, Ohio, this week, Founders Agency and Change the Ref will be distributing 10,000 copies of a different kind of list at the same summit. A “30 Under 30” magazine featuring children who will never make another list — not because they lacked talent, but because gun violence ended their lives before they could show the world what they had to offer.
The magazine, edited by former Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Alan Light, profiles 30 victims of gun violence under age 30. Each story was written with families who lost someone. Not as statistics. Not as headlines that fade after a news cycle. But as people who dreamed of becoming nurses, artists, teachers and entrepreneurs.
The juxtaposition is intentional. At the very event where young achievers are being celebrated for their potential, there’s a reminder of the futures that gun violence has stolen.
“This is not just another gun violence prevention campaign asking for action. This is a one-of-a-kind coalition of voices that will never stop demanding justice and a safer future,” says Manuel Oliver, co-founder of Change the Ref and father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was killed in the Parkland shooting.
What happens when you treat victims like the people they were?
The list includes children as young as six years old. Names from Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School, and a teenager named Evelyn Valdes, who was killed by a stray bullet in Miami just three months ago.
Each profile captures who these young people were and who they aspired to become. The work Founders did wasn’t about creating another awareness campaign; it was about giving space to lives that gun violence cut short.
Tanya De Poli, CEO and co-founder of Founders Agency, puts it this way: “’30 Under 30′ shouldn’t exist. It exists because countless futures have been taken. Our job at Founders isn’t to take the spotlight; it’s to lend every skill we have to all these families whose love fills these pages.”
When multiple organizations unite behind one message
This marks one of the first times multiple gun violence organizations have come together for a single initiative. Partners include March for Our Lives, Gracie Strong Foundation, Until Forever, Remembering Darien, Mothers Fighting for Justice, and Gays Against Guns.
The coalition is distributing copies not just at the Forbes summit, but on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, across Los Angeles, New York and Miami, as well as sending issues to key opinion leaders and members of Congress. The digital edition can be found at 30under30.us.
The magazine also features an op-ed from Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress at 28, titled: “Gun Violence is as American as Apple Pie. And It Impacts Every Single One of Us.”
The plan no one wants to execute
Change the Ref and Founders plan to publish new editions of this magazine every year until there are no more victims of gun violence. Which means they hope to never publish another issue.
“Throughout this project, we felt the collective love and solidarity of a small group of parents who, like us, refuse to let our children’s lives be dismissed, and instead transform their memory into a powerful force for kindness and commitment,” says Patricia Oliver, co-founder of Change the Ref and Joaquin’s mother.
The families and advocates hope that Monday’s launch will start conversations that lead to something they’d rather not have to publish again.
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