All People Making a Difference
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Jon Bon Jovi opens a pay-what-you-can 'Soul Kitchen'
Jon Bon Jovi's new restaurant will help the hungry. But it's no 'soup kitchen,' he says.
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Cheap drip irrigation could transform small farms
Peter Frykman founded Driptech to provide low-cost drip-irrigation systems to small farmers, hiking their crop yields by 20 to 90 percent.
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The world doesn't need to go thirsty
With world population expected to grow by 2 billion people by mid-century, supplies of clean water could be tight. But a new study suggests the key is not just how much water is available but how intelligently humanity uses it.
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To fight hunger, donate 'Just One Can'
Tony Marren founded Operation Just One Can to make it easy for Americans to get involved in solving the problem of hunger in the United States.
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Bamboo bicycle business shoots up in a struggling African country
Based in Zambia, Zambikes employs and empowers Africans to manufacture bicycles locally, including some made from bamboo.
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Difference Maker Sze LaiShan helps the poor trapped in tiny 'coffin' and 'cage' tenements
Sze LaiShan aids the vulnerable underclass who live in poverty amid Hong Kong's vast wealth.
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The world can feed itself without ruining the planet, study says
Author Jon Foley says feeding a growing world presents a huge challenge. But employing many strategies simultaneously can meet the problem.
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Rubí Orozco shows Mexican-Americans a traditional way to eat better
In a poor area of El Paso, Texas, Rubí Orozco has pushed aside the junk food and reintroduced fresh, nutritious traditional Mexican dishes.
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George Mukhobe is Mr. Baseball to kids in East Africa
George Mukhobe coaches Uganda's Little League baseball, which has grown to nearly 1,500 boys and girls across this East African country. Is playing in the Little League World Series next?
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Nobel winner Leymah Gbowee speaks out on peace, women, and leadership
Leymah Gbowee's Women Peace and Security Network Africa came out of her confrontation with Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. Now she's sharing this year's Nobel Peace Prize with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemen's Arab Spring activist Tawakkul Karman.
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Difference Maker Tri Mumpuni Iskandar builds small hydro plants to bring electricity to Indonesian villages
A petite entrepreneur wants to bring hydropower to the 90 million Indonesians without electricity.
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Restaurateur provides a waystation for North Korean defectors
Restaurateur Dan Kang runs the Seoul City Mongolian Grill, which trains North Korean defectors in the restaurant industry. The long-term goal: Return them to the north after Korea reunifies.
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No job? Make your own. Here are 7 ways to get help.
One alternative to looking for a job is to make your own. Here are seven nonprofits who offer tools, training, and ideas to get workers started.
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Five fruits you've never heard of that are helping to end hunger
From Monkey Oranges to Tsamma Melon little-known fruits can provide nutritious food to help alleviate hunger and poverty.
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Starbucks' new blend – working with community nonprofits
The coffee chain will join with two 'change-making' groups in New York and Los Angeles doing 'heroic work' to address economic, social, and education challenges.
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Patrons rally behind resilient public libraries
Even as libraries are facing steep cuts, Americans are using them more than ever – in more ways than ever.
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Difference Maker Judith Heumann: from 'fire hazard' to top advocate for disabled people
Judith Heumann learned early on that if she was going to be part of society she'd have to fight for the right.
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Young Palestinian sows seeds of peace where peace seems impossible
Mahmoud Jabari, who attended a Seeds of Peace camp, has learned to better understand both sides of the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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'Voluntourism' – not just for rich people anymore
A project in the Philippines sends Filipinos abroad as volunteers. The benefit: They come back and want to fight poverty at home.
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Paul Polak – developing products for 'the other 90 percent' of humanity
He listened first, then designed products for the world's poorest people long before the term 'social entrepreneur' came into use.
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