All People Making a Difference
Unconventional Charity: Water aims to raise $2 billion for clean waterScott Harrison, the founder of Charity: Water, takes an unconventional approach to bringing clean water to millions of people. Among his ideas: Put 100 percent of donations directly into projects – and look to entrepreneurs, not other charities, for great ideas.
A growing answer to rising seas: floating homesHomes, hospitals, even prisons and golf courses may be built over the water as architects cope with rising sea levels that will affect coastal cities around the world.
Liz Squibb knows how to help foster children - she was one herselfWorking at the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative she helps foster children make the transition to adulthood.
Cooperative businesses provide a new-old model for job growthCo-ops worldwide represent much more than hippie grocery stores: They're a fast-growing way to do business better in fields from finance to agriculture to industry.
Difference MakerOsama Abu Ayyash tells his story to Israelis who've never met a PalestinianOsama Abu Ayyash visits Israeli classrooms, telling his story of loss and forbearance to humanize Palestinians to Israelis who may have never met one.
Barefoot College and Microformers shine as innovative power solutionsInstitutions like India's Barefoot College, which teaches women how to run and repair solar installations, and projects like Microformers, which converts old microwave ovens into transformers, show ways to generate cheap electricity in poor regions.
Why Boulder, Colo., took charge of its electric companyRunning its own electric utility will allow Boulder to use more sun and wind energy instead of coal – at the same or lower cost.
Five ways to make aquaculture more sustainableCombining rice paddles and fish ponds, and using locally caught fish as feed, are just two of the ways that fish farming, or aquaculture, can be made more environmentally friendly.
New York Mayor Bloomberg donates $220 million to anti-smoking efforts worldwideThe charitable foundation of Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor and anti-smoking activist, is giving $220 million to aid anti-tobacco efforts in low- and middle-income countries, where nearly 80 percent of the world’s smokers live.
Betty Oderwald helps save a memory in stone of a 200-year-old forgotten US warBetty Oderwald has led an effort to restore the Powder House, one of Connecticut's few buildings connected to the War of 1812, now celebrating its bicentennial.
Difference MakerEric Maddox breaks bread – and barriers – one virtual dinner at a timeEric Maddox created the Virtual Dinner Guest Project to bring people from different cultures together over a meal through a video link.
'The Hunger Games' movie attracts campaigns to fight real-world hunger'The Hunger Games' stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth urge fans to fight hunger. But some fans are forming their own hunger campaign – 'Hunger is Not a Game' – using the hashtag #NotAGame.
World Water Day 2012: Two innovations for purifying waterHarnessing the bacteria naturally occurring in water and using solar energy are just two innovations that may help bring clean drinking water to the world's poor.
One Acre Fund helps Africa's small farmers keep in their fieldsThe One Acre Fund provides access to microloans, training, insurance, and other hard-to-get help that boosts farmers' incomes and curbs flight from farms into cities.
Access to energy - necessary but not sufficient to cut povertyThe UN estimates that 1.4 billion people have no access to electricity, hurting their ability to earn a living or educate their children. But connecting to an electric grid may not be the only solution.
Pam Washek rallies a nonprofit Neighbor BrigadeIn Massachusetts, families in need can turn to Neighbor Brigade, a nonprofit group founded by Pam Washek that's built community by community and run by neighbors themselves.
Difference MakerDina Fesler opens a unique school in AfghanistanDina Fesler went to Afghanistan to learn how to teach U.S. students about the country. Now she's opened a school there.
Why 'Kony 2012' video grabbed 100 million views onlineThe 'Kony 2012' online video, urging action against warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army in Central Africa, works because it tells a simple story that makes the viewer the hero, an expert says.
Is Rio de Janeiro the world's first 'smart' city?Rio de Janeiro uses IBM's Smart Cities technology to coordinate its city services in real time, from responding to emergencies to unsnarling traffic.
Fast-track breeding could bring a second Green RevolutionGreen revolution: Fast-track breeding is beginning to develop crops that can produce more and healthier food – without controversial genetic engineering.
