All Change Agent
- Interactive maps help secure land rights for indigenous peoples
A global interactive map called LandMark helps indigenous peoples worldwide prove that their land is not vacant, idle, or available for outside exploitation.
- Philanthropist couple expand its refugee rescue mission to Aegean, Asia
Christopher and Regina Catrambone set up the Migrant Offshore Aid Station to save refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Now they are expanding their efforts.
- Microgrids light up the night in Kenya villages
Some 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 music
Chad Bernstein says involving students in an after-school music program hones their problem-solving skills and creative abilities – and keeps them in school.
- Rochelle Ripley is 'pre-programmed to give back'
Her nonprofit group hawkwing Inc. 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 York
Half of small businesses don’t 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.
- Prison inmates refurbish bikes for children
At 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’s first solar airport takes off in southern India
The airport uses 46,000 solar panels spread across 45 acres to power all its electricity needs – and sells excess power to the government-run grid.
- Tide and wave energy may yet live up to their potential
Progress 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 violence
The 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?'
- Online 'mappers' track child slavery in Ghana
A 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 Bangladesh
A 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 problem
Providing safe water around the globe is a huge undertaking. But several solutions – from drinking straws to a 'drinkable' book – are making a difference.
- TripAdvisor-style ratings may save migrant workers from slavery
Contratados.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.
- New ways to help Hong Kong's human trafficking victims
Hong 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 carnival
The goal for next year: a ‘day of peace’ celebrated in every province of the war-torn country.
- More Than Words uses books to boost foster teens
The Boston-area nonprofit employs troubled teens to run online and storefront bookstores while also teaching them life skills.
- Engineering Smiles aims to bring mobile dental care to those in need
A group of engineering students in Arizona, most of them women, is designing a mobile dental facility for use in Nicaragua.