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Name: Linda Rottenberg
Job: Funds public service projects in South America
School: Yale Law
Age: 27
The Verdict: She helps communities in developing countries, she's got prominent connections, and she gets major travel time in South America. What more could you want?

Almost every college educator urges students to "get off the treadmill" and find jobs that really inspire their passions. But when Linda Rottenberg heard this advice from Guido Calabresi, dean of Yale Law School, she took it to heart.

Following her graduation from Yale Law, Linda turned down big money in private practice. Instead, she seized the opportunity to work with the Agency for International Development on a legal education reform project in Argentina and Chile. After spending a year and a half in South America, Linda began working for Ashoka Innovators for the Public, which funds and promotes "public service entrepreneurs."

At 27, she currently manages Ashoka's programs in Chile and Argentina. This position allows her to combine the drive and energy of entrepreneurship with the social conscience of public service. Linda selects Ashoka's fellows, who develop public service projects demonstrating creativity, entrepreneurial drive, social conscience, and "ethical fiber." She then helps establish them in South America by putting them in contact with prominent community members -- an aspect of her job that's allowed her to travel extensively.

"Don't be afraid to take risks," Linda advises recent graduates who may be wary of eschewing more traditional success tracks. "You have to be willing to have things unsettled." The happiest people she knows, she says, are those who did not plan out every aspect of their careers, but who took chances and trusted fate to provide them with opportunities. Her experience has taught her that, although taking the time to find her passion was challenging (and a little bit risky), she's found it to be essential to her career happiness.