All People Making a Difference
New-style roller derby puts an emphasis on communityIn modern roller derby, the women skaters are part of every aspect of the operation, including choosing charities to help that are close to their own hearts.
Take dams off rivers 鈥� but keep the electricityMany hydroelectric dams produce modest amounts of power yet do enormous damage to river life. Why not build solar and wind farms in the drained reservoirs?
Nonprofit group fills empty New York spaces with artNo Longer Empty involves the local community and then comes up with a theme for its art exhibitions that relates to local history.
To save forests, a tea factory brews up a new way to dry teaThe Makomboki Tea Factory in Kenya has stopped burning firewood and switched to a greener and cheaper fuel 鈥� biomass briquettes.
Handicrafts from beyondBeanie warm a head, lend a handThe social clothing company makes beanies and accessories that support artisans in Bolivia and help provide meals, supplies, and dental care to children in need.
Difference MakerSarah Chayes battles a worldwide scourge: deep-rooted corruptionThe former reporter and social entrepreneur in Afghanistan is now trying to bring about a sea change in US foreign policy.
Students document the stories of Holocaust survivorsNew York City high school students in the The 'Names, Not Numbers' oral history project record interviews with the vanishing survivors of the World War II Holocaust.
TechGirls: talented teens from North Africa and the Middle East visit the USThe exchange program aims to engage, inspire, and empower a new generation of women and girls in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields.
HistoriCorps engages volunteers as a 'workforce for saving places'Volunteers help to 'save the last great places' while experiencing the great outdoors.
As oceans heat up, so does a search for 'super corals'The world鈥檚 coral reefs are increasingly threatened by warmer and more acidic seas. Scientists looking to create species with the best chance to survive.
William Schulz: The UUSC stands with those in needThe Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is marking 75 years of helping people worldwide.
Difference MakerHarnin Manalaysay is a father figure for hundreds of Filipino street childrenFor 30 years he has mentored youths, many of whom were out of school and on the streets 鈥� neglected, abused, or abandoned. He helps them go on to higher education and good jobs.
In Pakistan, solar lamps turn women into entrepreneursA project is training Light Ladies, who operate and maintain solar charging stations in their homes that boost their incomes significantly while cutting carbon emissions.
Mobile schools educate girls in rural KenyaRun by nonprofit groups, the schools bring learning to girls whose families are forced to move around the region to survive.
The 'lost girls' of South Sudan 鈥� and the woman who found themIn 2006 Cathy Groenendijk saw young girls living on their own on the streets of South Sudan. She offered them tea, food, and a place to sleep. She hasn't stopped since.
You, too, can hack for good causesHackathons offer opportunities to design new software and hardware. Citizens from all walks of life are using them to battle social problems 鈥� local and global.
Despite setback, Wall Street pushes ahead with social impact bondsSocial impact bonds funnel private capital into philanthropic projects. Investors receive a return based on whether the project saves public money by addressing the social issue it targets.
Difference MakerKeisaburo Toyonaga helps Koreans and other non-Japanese atom bomb survivorsThough Japanese himself, he's spent decades aiding non-Japanese survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Hungry Congo looks to insect farmingThe love of edible insects in Democratic Republic of Congo may hold the key to tackling widespread hunger among its roughly 65 million people.
Schoolchildren learn to spot sexism as India grapples with abuse of womenActivists say classes that confront traditional gender roles and challenge sexism among youths are a key to changing attitudes and curbing widespread abuse.
