All People Making a Difference
How to end modern slaveryMillions of people around the world are still enslaved, many in the sex industry. Education and training opportunities can help change the picture, says a former sex slave.
Difference MakerJennifer Epps inspires inner-city students and teachers in Los Angeles to excelEpps, the principal of Synergy Charter Academy in Los Angeles, has turned it into the 'best urban elementary school in the US.'
Edna Adan Ismail puts compassion at the heart of an African hospitalPatients come to the Edna Adan University Hospital in Somaliland from 500 miles away or more for treatment in the best-equipped general hospital in the region.
8 things Harry Potter fans are doing to fight real-life dark forcesIf Harry Potter were a real person, he鈥檇 fight child labor, voter suppression, and poverty. Here are several ways Harry's fans have taken his values from the books and movies into the real world.
After-school music program gets its wish 鈥� and moreAn after-school music program in Michigan received a surprise $20,000 gift that will help it go forward as a free educational opportunity for elementary and middle-school students.
Pura Vida Bracelets creates jobs, funds good worksWhen college students Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman visited Costa Rica, they saw an opportunity to market Pura Vida bracelets that would create local jobs and fund charitable groups.
Difference MakerSam Hawkins opened a shoe factory to give ex-cons a second chanceA shoe factory located just outside a prison in El Salvador is an act of love, a way to help former convicts stay out of prison.
EcoZoom: a model for selling clean cookstoves in AfricaEcoZoom stoves reduce fuel use by 50 percent to 60 percent and toxic emissions by 70 percent, while cutting cooking time in half, which allows women to spend more time gardening and tending to children.
Partnering with the poor: four powerful programs that fight povertyAid groups have shifted their focus from charity to building local markets for the poor so that they become buyers, sellers, and agents of long-term economic development.
How a small California town curbed a teen suicide epidemic鈥攂y talking about itAfter Indian Valley, Calif., lost its sixth teenager, residents started talking about suicide out in the open 鈥� and it's working.
Grow Appalachia: a better food system for AmericaAs Americans, we should help people grow their own food and become their own solutions to food insecurity, the way we've done with Grow Appalachia.
Difference MakerOlga Murray found a second career educating the children of NepalAfter retiring from legal work Olga Murray took on a new task: educating the children, especially the girls, of Nepal.
Harrison, Ark., works to scrub away a 'whites only' labelMayor Jeff Crockett and others try to change the image of Harrison, Ark., a town that once told African-Americans they were neither welcome nor safe there.
GE gives $15 million for a community center in Newtown, Conn.A $15 million gift from GE will build a new community center in Newtown, Conn., the scene of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Bridges to somewhere help communities thriveDenver-based nonprofit Bridges to Prosperity builds footbridges to provide isolated communities in the developing world with access to health care, education, and economic opportunities.
Nonprofit serves 1.5 million school lunches across India every dayThe Akshaya Patra Foundation has quickly become one of the largest and most efficient nonprofits in the world, serving 330 million hot meals to schoolchildren in India each year.
Pen pal program helps Chinese youths affected by AIDSThe China AIDS Fund fosters friendships between HIV/AIDS affected children in China and American youths.
Difference MakerSiavosh Derakhti, a young Muslim, defends Jews and others targeted by hate crimesA young Swedish Muslim, Siavosh Derakhti, has founded a group that educates young people about the evils and dangers of anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia.
Woman finds second career providing homes to disabled US vetsVicki Thomas put her 35 years of experience to work, raising millions of dollars for Purple Heart Homes, which provides housing for wounded soldiers.
Leveling the playing field: a nonprofit helps student athletes rate schoolsThe APCA ranks schools on 25 factors, including how well they take care of their athletes, to help prospective student athletes choose wisely.