HCHS senior named to Forbes 30 Under 30

BY ANNA HUGHES

Hinsdale Central High School senior Momin Ahmed is making a name for himself on an international scale: he’s the youngest honoree named to the highly-esteemed 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Ahmed, honored in the Forbes “Education” category, is the founder of Model UN Academy, an initiative he pioneered to make diplomacy accessible to students internationally. The program offers free educational Model United Nations guides — written by Ahmed himself — to students across the globe.

“Something I noticed at my first international conference at the University of Chicago was that most of the kids who were doing Model UN were really high-income kids, or they were kids who spoke English,” the Hinsdale resident said.

International students at that conference confided in Ahmed — an already experienced Model UN delegate — that they lacked access to quality educational resources, especially in other languages.

“They didn’t know the intricacies of the procedure, the best ways to prepare, and how to really excel in Model UN,” Ahmed said. “I thought to myself, that’s kind of a bummer because there are so many smart kids who could benefit so much from Model UN because it’s an activity that really teaches you public speaking, writing, negotiation, communication, all these vital skills.”

He decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I started writing just a few Google Docs on Model UN guides, kind of just like how it works, what you need to do to prepare the procedures and examples of different papers you use in Model UN. It was pretty basic at first,” Ahmed said. “Then I sent it to a couple of schools in the local area around Chicago, especially the lower-income schools… They were like, ‘This is awesome. We’re definitely going to use this for our club.’”

“It’s an activity that really teaches you public speaking, writing, negotiation, communication, all these vital skills.”

— Momin Ahmed, Model UN Academy Founder

Motivated by their excitement, Ahmed spent six months during the fall and winter of his junior year writing comprehensive guides to share with other students. Since then, the guides have been translated into 104 languages and have been utilized by over 18,000 students across the globe.

“For the first six months, it was pretty much just me. [Eventually,] I was like, if I want us to really grow beyond what we are right now, I can’t just keep doing all of this by myself,” Ahmed said.

Now, Model UN Academy has a network of chapters and ambassadors globally, in addition to a fellowship program. The nonprofit also hosts a free, biweekly webinar master class, which is available live and on demand for students around the world.

“In terms of the operational costs, I’ve done this with I think less than $1,000,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed was first introduced to Model UN in 2019 as a sixth grader at Clarendon Hills Middle School, when his mom signed him up for summer camps.

“At first, I didn’t really like it, I just saw it as another thing to do,” Ahmed admitted. “The beginning of my sophomore year, I started to realize, oh, I’m doing pretty well at this. This is something that’s like, pretty cool. I’m interested in it.”

Now, he’s the co-president of the HCHS program, has won numerous awards, and serves on the board of a regional, student-run conference, DuPage Model United Nations (DUMUN).

Momin Ahmed as a panelist at MedGlobal’s 2025 “Health in a Turbulent World” Conference & Gala this past October

“We are really proud of everything Momin has done and accomplished and can’t wait to see what great things he continues to do in the years to come,” social studies teacher and Model UN sponsor Sanskruti Patel said.

Ahmed described his international success and Forbes recognition as “unreal.” After a lengthy application process, seeing his name on the list was totally unexpected — as was the attention that followed.

“It’s a little like…embarrassing kind of,” Ahmed said, laughing.

He receives countless texts from friends — new and old — saying they saw him featured on Instagram and TikTok.

“Even though it is embarrassing for those reasons, it is really cool because I get to meet people I wouldn’t normally get to meet [like] other people on the Forbes list,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who will graduate from HCHS in the spring, plans to keep growing Model UN Academy during college, while working towards his goal of attending law school. His mission remains the same: broaden access to diplomacy education and the life skills it builds.

“I feel like a lot of people, when they hear the word diplomacy, they think of people in the UN headquarters in New York City or roaming the halls of Capitol Hill,” Ahmed said. “But to me, which I’ve kind of learned through Model UN, diplomacy is more of a life skill that anyone can use regardless of the career they want to go into.”

For more information about Model UN Academy, visit modelunacademy.org