All People Making a Difference
Microgrids light up the night in Kenya villagesSome 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity. An innovative solar company is using microgrids and smart meters to deliver power to villages deep in the African bush.
Guitars Over Guns reaches at-risk youths with musicChad Bernstein says involving students in an after-school music program hones their problem-solving skills and creative abilities 鈥� and keeps them in school.
Rochelle Ripley is 'pre-programmed to give back'Her nonprofit group hawkwing Inc.聽has delivered $9 million in goods and services to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Creative financing helps co-ops create jobs in post-Sandy New YorkHalf of small businesses don鈥檛 make it past the first five years, and owners lose everything. The Working World lets co-ops stabilize before repayment begins.
US college student creates 'Refugee Help Map'David Altmayer was studying in Budapest, Hungary, when the refugee crisis broke out. So he designed an interactive online map that shows where the refugees are and what they need.
Difference MakerKayo Oda left a safe career to teach Sudanese how to avoid land minesShe makes treks along nameless unmarked paths to conduct lifesaving land-mine safety meetings. Getting lost happens frequently because of the ever-shifting sands.
Prison inmates refurbish bikes for childrenAt Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, S.D., about 1,300 bikes are restored and given away every year through its Pedal Power from the Pen program.
World鈥檚 first solar airport takes off in southern IndiaThe airport uses 46,000 solar panels spread across 45 acres to power all its electricity needs 鈥� and sells excess power to the government-run grid.
Tide and wave energy may yet live up to their potentialProgress in harnessing the power of ocean tides and waves is being made as governments and the private sector bring marine energy into the mainstream.
Colombia's 'new men' confront machismo and gender violenceThe past decade has brought a growing recognition that boys and men must be in the forefront of combating violence against women.
Shine and Inspire asks those it helps to 'pay it forward'The nonprofit group wants to know 'if we help you to shine, what would that inspire you to do?'
Difference MakerAlexis Hurd-Shires found her calling helping Syrian refugeesShe headed to Lebanon with the general aim of doing some good. Finding a struggling refugee community badly in need of a school, she decided to open one.
Online 'mappers' track child slavery in GhanaA crowdsourcing project is working with The Global Fund to End Slavery to produce accurate, public data for use by activists and governments to clamp down on trafficking.
Cheap, off-the-shelf technology cuts climate losses in BangladeshA multimillion-dollar investment improves a dam system, but it only works because a $50 salinity monitor allows villagers to make good day-to-day decisions.
Three cool solutions to the clean water problemProviding safe water around the globe is a huge undertaking. But several solutions 鈥� from drinking straws to a 'drinkable' book 鈥� are making a difference.
TripAdvisor-style ratings may save migrant workers from slaveryContratados.org, a site for migrants from Mexico working in the US, lets migrant workers rate their experiences with recruiters or employers online, by voicemail, or by text message.
Difference MakerJohn Hope Bryant wants African-American students to be smart about moneyOperation HOPE is helping to fill a yawning gap that many finance experts see between what Americans know about financial planning and what they need to know.
New ways to help Hong Kong's human trafficking victimsHong Kong is a hotbed of sex trafficking and forced labor but it narrowly defines what trafficking is. Now Liberty Asia is creatively applying existing laws to trafficking cases.
Young Iraqis in Baghdad hold a peace carnivalThe goal for next year: a 鈥榙ay of peace鈥� celebrated in every province of the war-torn country.
More Than Words uses books to boost foster teensThe Boston-area nonprofit employs troubled teens to run online and storefront bookstores while also teaching them life skills.