Mexican woman stands out on Forbes 30 Under 30 list

A mixture of pride, surprise, and gratitude is what Sinaloa native María Guadalupe Beltrán said she felt when she learned that she had been selected to appear on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Central America and the Caribbean 2025 list.  

Forbes magazine reviews different profiles across five categories: Business & Finance, Technology & Innovation, Sports & Entertainment, Social Impact, and Science, Education & Creative Industries. 

Standing out from among over 120,000 global applicants, the Tec Sinaloa campus graduate with a degree in Biobusiness Engineering has been selected to appear in the Science, Education & Creative Industries category. 

n these categories, candidates are evaluated based on multiple criteria, both quantitative and qualitative, including revenue and sales, funding and investors, development stage, social impact, and scalability. 

The day she received the news that she was going to appear on the Forbes list, she felt a mixture of surprise, gratitude, and pride. 

“All this effort, every hour in the lab, every proposal, every community workshop, has been worth it. 

“For me, it means paving the way and giving visibility to young women in science and social entrepreneurship,” María shared. 

Currently, María is the founder and CEO of Creative Lab Food, a Mexican company combining science, the circular economy, and education.  

Its mission is to transform agricultural byproducts and regional products into solutions with environmental, social, and nutritional impact. 

This laboratory develops projects such as Bioshake, a synbiotic children’s drink created to prevent obesity and promote awareness of good nutrition from childhood. 

Beltrán has been developing this drink since 2022, when she was still a student. 

She has also developed Dry Food, an initiative resulting from her participation in the Global Entrepreneurship Summer School in Germany, which converts discarded fruits and vegetables into long-lasting, healthy snacks. 

“For me, it means paving the way and giving visibility to young women in science and social entrepreneurship.” 

“Science can lead to real wellbeing from childhood,” she says about Bioshake. 

Whereas she explains that Dry Food taught her the power of international collaboration for solving problems such as food waste and hunger. 

Through Creative Lab Food, María and her team have managed to prevent more than 243 tons of CO₂ emissions, scientifically validate more than six prototypes, collaborate with circular economy businesses, and offer nutrition workshops to boys and girls in both public and private schools. 

These efforts have earned her more than three national awards, as well as participation in international programs in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. 

“For me, Creative Lab Food is not just a social enterprise but a scientific and social platform that transforms local problems into global solutions,” she explained. 

Her career has been marked by challenges such as access to funding, gender and age stereotypes, and the balance between academic and entrepreneurial work. 

In light of this, she confesses that she has learned to let the results speak for themselves: 

“I’ve often had to demonstrate that young women can lead high-impact science and business projects,” she said. 

She also recognizes the importance of taking care of her personal balance. 

“I know that there is no external impact without internal balance.  

I try to live by the same philosophy with which I design my proposals: everything should be regenerative, conscious, and long-lasting.” 

According to María, her education and the projects she participated in during her time at Tecnológico de Monterrey have been key to her development. 

During that time, she participated in experiences such as Map the System in Oxford, the Global Entrepreneurship Summer School in Germany, and the Venture Lab in Mexico, where she learned to lead with purpose and a global vision. 

Among her most recent awards are the 2024 State Youth Merit Award, presented by the Sinaloa State Government, and the 2025 Mujer Tec Award in the Entrepreneurship category. 

She received the latter after being chosen from among more than 39,000 Tecnológico de Monterrey candidate profiles. 

Similarly, she believes that all these awards and experiences have strengthened her ability to lead projects combining innovation, sustainability, and purpose. 

Finally, she recommended that other young aspiring entrepreneurs not wait until they have everything figured out, as she believes that great projects begin with imperfect prototypes, with trial and error. 

“When what you’re doing makes sense to you and others, motivation turns into discipline, and results follow,” she concluded.