Melcolm Ruffin ’13 Joins 30 Under 30 Notables

Melcolm Ruffin, a 2013 Isenberg sport management graduate, has been named to Forbes Magazine’s annual "30 Under 30" roster in the sports category. Ruffin is head of athlete content strategy with Creative Artists Agency in Manhattan, an iconic representative of “talent,” teams, and brands. He is also cofounder of the nonprofit Sports & Entertainment Equity Network (SEEN), which hosts networking events and provides other networking opportunities for professionals of color in sports and entertainment. Since its founding in 2015, SEEN has grown a community of 800+ professionals and hosted 30+ events with 1,500 attendees.

Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 rosters encompass Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Its separate American honors recognize 600 business and industry figures—30 in each of 20 categories, including ecommerce, science, social enterprise, healthcare, Hollywood & entertainment, and marketing & advertising. In its selections, Forbes looks for “game changers and industry disruptors.”

After graduating from Isenberg, Ruffin joined the NBA in managerial posts in its D and G Leagues. The latter included responsibility for marketing and content creation. In 2018, he enrolled in Harvard Business School’s MBA program, graduating earlier this year. At his present employer, he was a content business development intern before joining the firm full time after graduation.

At Isenberg’s annual Business Leadership banquet in 2018, Ruffin became the first recipient of the school’s Driven Leadership Award. Earlier in that academic year, McCormack recognized him as an outstanding mentor of its students. "Melcolm took me under his wing,” noted his mentee, Isenberg scholar and athlete Davonté Higginbottom '20 (on left in photo). “His insights on classes, club activities, and life advice have made a tremendous difference to me as a student and person.”