All People Making a Difference
Women lead effort to protect Sri Lanka's mangrovesSri Lanka is the first nation to promise to protect all its mangrove trees, which provide breeding areas for marine life and protect coastal communities from storms and erosion.
A college student brightens lives in IndiaThrough her nonprofit Brighter Today, Mansi Prakash has brought cheaper, better lighting to more than 5,000 homes in a rural village. And she's not stopping there.
High-energy dogs find careers in conservationRescues 2the Rescue, a partnership between the International Fund for Animal Welfare and Working Dogs for Conservation, places high-energy dogs in jobs that benefit from their spunk.
Indian farmer harvests a climate-smart crop 鈥� sunshineA pilot project offers farmers in India the opportunity to sell the excess energy generated by the solar panels that drive their water pumps.
Warren Buffett donates $2.8 billion to five charitiesThe Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was once more the biggest recipient of Warren Buffett's $2.8 billion in charity this year.聽
Maja Mataric looks for female students who want to be 'The Next MacGyver'The engineering professor is seeking to lure more young women into STEM fields. The Next MacGyver competition is one way.
Difference MakerIan Tilling went to Romania to help children in need 鈥� and never leftToday the retired British policeman's nonprofit Casa Ioana is a place where women and children can go to feel safe and learn how to rebuild their lives.聽
Music success story started under the stairsThe nonprofit KEYS program in Bridgeport, Conn., schools now enriches the lives of hundreds of students who otherwise wouldn't receive music instruction.
Difference MakerMark Hecker pairs pupils and student tutors 鈥� with dramatic gains for bothAt Reach Incorporated the tutors are only about six to eight years older 鈥� high school students who themselves have been struggling academically or socially.
New website helps people donate directly to human trafficking survivorsThe first-of-its-kind website 6degree.org allows people to aid individual survivors of human trafficking through online donations.
The Theatre Lab helps people tell their own storiesDeb Gottesman and聽Buzz Mauro conduct a tuition-free Life Stories program that gives opportunities for self-expression to hundreds of individuals not typically reached by the arts.
How Australians survived a 13-year drought by going low-techResidents of Melbourne, Australia, cut water consumption in half by capturing rainwater and using efficient toilets and washing machines.
Why Newtown's path to healing goes through Oklahoma and ColoradoNewtown, Conn., teens traveled to Oklahoma and Colorado to do service projects. The trips are designed to give the teenagers perspective and to empower them.
New app helps farmers in Kenya find climate-smart seedsThe free MbeguChoice mobile phone app, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, helps farmers chose the right seed for their local conditions.
Difference MakerJavier Stauring learned that troubled youths 'weren't so different' from himNow he spends his time helping youths in the court system, meeting with them in prison, and counseling their families.
An ambitious Write a House plot: bring artists and new housing to DetroitThe nonprofit wants to draw writers to the city while rehabbing derelict houses and reducing the number of abandoned properties.
How one public library paid $1 to install solar panelsIn West Virginia, Solar Holler helps nonprofits install solar panels for less than the price of a cup of coffee through an innovativev rebate program.
A father and daughter save young women in India from sex slaveryRay Umashankar could have retired, but he wanted to build a better future for his own daughter and all the daughters of India.
One-of-a-kind school gives homeless students a PLACE to learnThe Progressive Learning Alternative for Children鈥檚 Education (PLACE) in San Diego provides homeless children with classes 鈥� along with clothing, health care, counseling, and more.
Civilians with smartphones combat war crimes 鈥� with an appThe 'EyeWitness to Atrocities' app records the user's location, date, time, and nearby Wi-Fi networks to verify that the footage has not been edited or manipulated.