Jake Bernstein

St. Louis, MO | 19

Jake developed a passion for volunteering at a young age, but found that very few volunteer activities existed for teens and tweens. To address this void, Jake created volunTEENnation.org to help connect teens with available volunteer opportunities.

Skylar Dorosin

Palo Alto, CA | 18

Skylar created Project 2020 to give young girls from lower-income communities the opportunity to be a part of a team, to learn how to swim, and to play water polo, building their self-esteem, teamwork, and collaboration skills.

Ellie Dubin

Beverly Hills, CA | 17

Ellie created a student-run musical theatre program called Kesem Shel Shir (the Magic of Music) to bring music and performing arts programming to students at public schools with little or no funding for such programs.

Jordan Elist

Beverly Hills, CA | 18

Jordan created Save a Bottle, Save a Life, to bring his community together in both recycling and in supporting the work of their local food bank.

Ben Hirschfeld

Hastings-on-Hudson, NY | 19

When Ben learned that students in the developing world often study by the light of kerosene lamps, which puts them at risk for burns, asthma, pneumonia, and breathing in toxic carcinogens, he was inspired to create Lit! Solar.

Ido Kedar

West Hills, CA | 17

Ido, a young man with non-verbal autism, is a writer, blogger, and presenter who offers parents, educators, and researchers a first-hand look into the internal reality of those with severe autism.

Talia Leman

Waukee, IA | 18

After successfully inspiring and encouraging her peers to raise more than $10 million trick-or-treating for spare change in an effort to fundraise for Hurricane Katrina/Rita relief, Talia established the nonprofit RandomKid to harness and focus the power of her peers.

Nick Lowinger

Cranston, RI | 15

Inspired by a volunteer experience when he was five years old, Nick created the Gotta Have Sole Foundation to provide properly fitting shoes to children in homeless shelters.

Max Wallack

Natick, MA | 17

After watching his great-grandmother’s decline as a result of Alzheimer’s, Max launched PuzzlesToRemember to give other Alzheimer’s patients an opportunity to feel the same therapeutic relief his great-grandmother felt doing puzzles.

Talia Young

Lafayette, CA | 18

Talia created a spoken word club entitled Looking for Home to nurture a supportive environment where teens could express themselves freely.