Paige Alenick

Woodcliff Lake, NJ | 18

One night while brushing her teeth, Paige thought about the toothbrush in her hand, and how fortunate she was to have the small necessity.

Tyler Barbee

Mill Valley, CA | 16

Moved and motivated by watching his older brother manage the challenges of autism, Tyler was inspired to help teens with special needs to explore, expand, and celebrate their own abilities.

Zach Certner

Morristown, NJ | 18

Driven to create opportunities for kids like Mikey to be part of the fun, Zach and his brother co-founded SNAP (Special Needs Athletic Programs), a project that provides opportunities for children with special needs to participate in athletic and social programming.

Jonny Cohen

Highland Park, IL | 19

During a walk home from school in seventh grade, Jonny began contemplating the environmental footprint of the school buses that passed by him—and how a design change might reduce emissions and cut fuel costs for buses nationwide.

Morgan Davidson

Woodland Hills, CA | 16

In four years Morgan successfully founded two Ambassadors for Hope Club high school chapters, recruited over 250 Be the Match donors, matched four individuals with donors, and raised over $45,000 for City of Hope.

Jacob Gardenswartz

La Mesa, CA | 18

Sitting through a fairly typical school lecture about the ills of bullying, Jacob was inspired to find a more captivating way to get teens to empathize with their peers.

Katie Hamelburg

Potomac, MD | 19

Katie set out to empower teens to participate in projects that fix the world, one volunteer hour at a time. To accomplish this, Katie launched Operation 18,000 to channel the volunteer energy of United Synagogue Youth (USY).

Amanda Harris

Atlanta, GA | 19

A dancer at heart, Amanda created Wear then Share to empower underprivileged children through dance and provide them with the dancewear they need to take center stage.

Maxine Harvey

Methuen, MA | 18

Maxine experienced first-hand the transformative power an individual can make in another’s life when she was adopted from China by a single mother in Massachusetts. From a young age, Maxine has been finding ways to pay it forward.

Yoni Kalin

Washington, DC | 19

After watching a restaurant server throw away barely-used crayons at the end of a family meal, Yoni saw an opportunity to turn trash into treasure.

Lillian Pravda

New York, NY | 14

Lillian began volunteering in a pediatric surgical unit when she was 8. Since then, she has helped provide 24,210 children with the gift of sight.

Adena Rochelson

Fayetteville, NY | 15

A passionate advocate, Adena diligently campaigns to raise awareness of how everyday items can improve the quality of life of people living at or below the poverty line.

Yaniv Sadka

Beverly Hills, CA | 18

Teens Curing Cancer (TCC) began with one boy, Benny, and his battle with lymphoma.

Joshua Toch

Morgan Hill, CA | 18

After experiencing significant bullying as a result of having cerebral palsy, Joshua one day decided to speak up about his experience. The response led him to keep stepping up and speaking out.

Samantha Vinik

Millburn, NJ | 17

Samantha, who was born with severe hearing loss, always wanted to help others prevent the loss she couldn’t avoid. She started by working with a few friends to design a lesson on how to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.