DANVILLE– Two young men from Danville were featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2025.
Brandon C. Yates, 26 is a 2017 graduate of Danville High School and a 2021 graduate of University of Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.
He is the Co-Founder of DeepWalk Research. According to the Forbes profile on Yates, the initiative was launched out of the University of Illinois in 2019 by Yates and a partner to improve sidewalks with planning software to make it easier for cities to bring them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Using iPhone LiDAR scanners, DeepWalk allows city maintenance staff to quickly assess sidewalks for accessibility. The software generates planning, construction and maintenance documents, which cuts down the time and cost to make sidewalks ADA-compliant.
Aarian J. Forman, 29, the other man highlighted by Forbes, is a 2013 graduate of Danville High School and a 2017 graduate of Tennessee State University. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration & Management and a Masters of Business Administration from Tennessee State University.
Forman is the Co-Founder of Xceleader, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that aims to empower students at historically Black colleges and universities to become leaders in entrepreneurship and social activism.
More than 8,000 students and alumni have participated in Xceleader workshops, mentorship and non-partisan civic engagement programs, according to Forman’s profile on Forbes.