All People Making a Difference
- Drones emerge as a conservation toolLian Pin Koh, cofounder of ConservationDrones.org, says drones can be a key part of conservation efforts, particularly in remote regions, from counting orangutans to stopping poaching.
- Aileen Hefferren preps minority students for top schoolsPrep for Prep identifies promising students of color and helps prepare them for placement at top-quality independent and boarding schools.
- The Miley Cyrus 2014 VMA shocker? An act of charity.Miley Cyrus turned the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards spotlight on the homeless youth of America. Twerking is so last year.
- College president takes a $90,000 pay cut to give low-wage workers a raiseRaymond Burse is forfeiting a chunk of his salary at Kentucky State University to improve pay for the lowest-paid workers.
- Difference MakerBob Keesee's rain catchers bring clean water to Haiti鈥檚 poorestBob Keesee kept tinkering until he got his homemade rain-catching systems right. Now they collect precious water for Haiti's rural poor.
- Soaked for charity: Ice bucket challenges get coolIce聽bucket聽challenges and similar social media-powered stunts are raising awareness and money for charitable causes.
- Kerri Martin mixes bike repair with on-the-job trainingYouths who work at Second Life Bikes for 15 hours can earn a refurbished bicycle of their own.
- 'Mama Aleta' defends Indonesia's natural habitatAfter successfully defeating miners, Aleta Baun is heading into the regional parliament to continue her campaign to protect the environment in western Timor, part of Indonesia.
- Difference MakerMicah Clark offers injured vets an outdoor challenge 鈥 and new friendshipsCamp Patriot prods injured US military veterans to get out and get on with life.
- Tom Osborn, inventor of 'green' charcoal, proves you鈥檙e never too young to innovate18-year-old Kenyan Tom Osborn founded GreenChar, which makes clean-burning smokeless cooking charcoal from聽agricultural waste.
- Davi Kopenawa fights for his tribe's survival in the Brazilian rain forestThe once-remote Yanomami people have been challenged by the arrival of outsiders to their area of northern Brazil.
- 10 young people who are making food betterFrom starting their own food companies to donating food that would be thrown away youths are undertaking many inspiring projects.
- Musu Clemens-Hope shares tools to blunt the allure of extremismAs program director of Peace Through Development II she helps moderate Muslims in Africa become more media savvy.
- Jon Schull brings do-it-yourself artificial hands to the massesHis online group e-NABLE harnesses the do-it-yourself movement and 3D printers to create artificial hands for a fraction of their previous cost.
- Difference MakerGerard and Beatrice Barras reopened a wool mill and helped save a townThey spun their interest in an old wool mill into an unconventional business that revived a French village.
- Cynthia Kersey helps girls become 'unstoppable'She founded the Unstoppable Foundation, which concentrates on getting girls in Africa into school and keeping them there.
- Isis Dallis Keigwin supports youths who 'age out' of foster careHer Camellia Network provides a way for former foster kids to share their stories and connect with mentors, job training, and internship programs.
- Out of the fog: how a startup harvests water from thin airPHOG Water has developed a net, based on ancient technology, that catches water from fog.
- Nobel Peace laureates mentor youths through PeaceJamPunk rocker Ivan Suvanjieff and his wife, economist Dawn Engle, founded PeaceJam to help Nobel Peace Prize laureates share their stories with youths around the world.
- Difference MakerAarne Saluveer helps meld an alienated Russian minority into Estonia鈥檚 cultureThe conductor is on a mission to bring Estonia鈥檚 Russian- and Estonian-speakers together in the way he knows best 鈥 through song.