Akshay K. Khanna G15 WG15

30; vice president of strategy, the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center; led the acquisition and merger of two eSports teams; negotiated an estimated $25 million jersey sponsorship deal with StubHub

Proudest professional accomplishment? Helping launch and working with the Sixers Innovation Lab Crafted by Kimball and seeing this incredible business accelerator succeed. Being able to invest behind talented entrepreneurs from all across the globe and helping to grow each of their businesses with the resources that the 76ers family is able to provide them has been an incredibly rewarding opportunity, and one that is fairly unique within the world of sports, media, and entertainment.

Role model? On a professional note, Sara Blakely. The way in which she created Spanx, the persistence she displayed when she was getting turned down by every vendor, the creativity it took to sell people a product they didn’t even know they needed—all of these are amazingly inspiring characteristics to me. On a personal note, my father is and will always be my role model for what a human being should strive to be. I’m lucky to have learned most of what I know from him.