Jonah Bard

Los Angeles, CA | 18

Jonah created EdRise to address the crisis of millions of students falling behind in their classes due to a lack of individualized academic support. EdRise delivers free virtual tutoring sessions for disadvantaged students in grades 3-8. The organization has recruited 113 volunteer high school and college aged tutors and has reached 267 students over the course of more than 1,200 hours of tutoring sessions.

Benjamin Barkoff

New York, NY | 17

Benjamin was first captivated by the concept of tzedakah, or charity, during preschool. He emptied his piggy bank to donate to an organization supporting wounded veterans. As he learned more about the work and sacrifice of military members, Benjamin created Whiskey Bravo to support the less than 1% of Americans who volunteer to serve in the armed forces, some of whom make the ultimate sacrifice.

Ariel Beck

Bethesda, MD | 19

Around the time she became a bat mitzvah, Ariel attended a conference of women entrepreneurs, where she was shocked to learn that only 2.3% of venture capital goes to start-ups led by women. Motivated to change this statistic, Ariel gathered a group of 10 friends to meet with a woman entrepreneur. That meeting eventually evolved into an international organization supporting more than 2,500 girls learning entrepreneurial skills.

Gideon Buddenhagen

Oakland, CA | 17

Gideon noticed a disconnect where students of color lacked access to technology education as well as mentors who looked like them. By creating Leadership in Motion, Gideon aimed to address this disparity, creating a pathway to leadership for older students and unique learning opportunities for younger students. Leadership in Motion’s successful pilot phase connected low-income middle school students with high school students of color for a nine-week technology education program with Google. His program is now being adopted under Google’s Code Next offerings.

Matthew Casertano

North Potomac, MD | 18

When Matthew realized that he and a friend were both delivering groceries and medication to their respective grandparents to reduce their risk of exposure to Covid-19, he immediately knew that there must be others who didn’t have that kind of help. In 2020, Matthew and his friend Dhruv began Teens Helping Seniors to identify senior citizens, people with disabilities, and immunocompromised members in their community and connect them with teen volunteers to ensure they could get the essentials they needed as the pandemic worsened.

Amelia Fortgang

San Francisco, CA | 18

Standing on the steps of San Francisco City Hall leading the Youth Climate Strike, Amelia felt the power of her grandmothers who worked in local politics and inspired her to organize and lobby for change. With that strong family foundation, and fueled by her passion for environmental justice, Amelia founded the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, an activism network that offers in-depth educational climate justice workshops, lobbies local and federal elected officials, and mobilizes Bay Area high schoolers to implement climate action plans in their communities.

Robbie Khazan

Arlington, MA | 17

Seeing his younger sister’s joy after he taught her how to program a game, Robbie sought to share the excitement of coding with more kids, especially those who don’t have access to regular computer science education. Working with parents in his community, Robbie organized a 10-week online course in Scratch, a programming language used in animated games. After a successful test run, Robbie expanded his class to include kids in transitional housing, and Kiddo Byte was born. To date, Kiddo Byte has recruited over 50 volunteers and 15 organizational partners, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Lab, and has taught coding and development courses to more than 400 students worldwide.

Sienna Nazarian

Beverly Hills, CA | 17

Inspired by her own family’s history of fleeing persecution simply because they were Jewish, Sienna co-founded The Refugee Empowerment Project to break down the roadblocks that exist for refugees during their resettlement process by offering them the resources they need to thrive. Sienna recognized the impact of her organization the day an Afghani girl said, after she attended a community orientation, that it was “her best day in America.” Since its inception, The Refugee Empowerment Project has recruited more than 130 volunteers to assist over 1,000 refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers through direct service, including hand-delivering boxes of essential items to newcomers’ homes.

Evan Nied

Virginia Beach, VA | 18

After experiencing the dangers of Hurricane Florence firsthand, Evan set out to make a difference by planting thousands of trees and working to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change. In the three years since his organization Planting Shade was founded, they have planted nearly 12,000 trees across different states, countries, and continents while increasing awareness about the impact of climate change.

Hailey Richman

Plainview, NY | 15

When Hailey was four years old, her grandmother developed Alzheimer’s disease. Through her personal experience, Hailey discovered the lack of resources and support for the 1.8 million youth in the United States serving as caregivers for those with Alzheimer’s. By creating the non-profit organization Kid Caregivers, Hailey began to pursue a way to make a change. Her organization pairs young people with Alzheimer’s patients for shared puzzle solving, which boosts mood and short-term memory, and organizes an online youth support group to demonstrate that kids who are supporting loved ones who are Alzheimer’s patients are not alone.

Cameron Samuels

Katy, TX | 18

In school one day, Cameron attempted to visit the website of a queer youth suicide prevention organization and was shocked to find that it was blocked by the campus internet under the category of “Alternative Sexual Lifestyles (GLBT)” along with other local and national websites dedicated to LGBTQ+ equality and support. As a queer student who understood both firsthand and from friends the struggle to find support and acceptance, Cameron was inspired to begin an effort to lift the bans on these sites and bring justice to queer students within their school district of 90,000 students. Cameron’s leadership has led to coordinated efforts that garnered nearly 2,000 petition signatures, partnerships with non-profit organizations and community groups, dedicated supporters speaking at school board meetings, and hours of conversations with school district officials. Their efforts expanded beyond internet censorship to combat banning books on race, the Holocaust, and LGBTQ+ topics.

Anna Siegel

Yarmouth, ME | 16

Inspired to create a network of youth climate activists in her home state of Maine, Anna founded ME Strikes in 2019 to have a Maine presence in the global climate strikes that occurred in March and September 2019. ME Strikes worked with seven municipalities across Maine to have them declare a climate emergency. At the same time, she was a founding member of the Maine Youth for Climate Justice (MYCJ) coalition, helping to build that coalition and set visionary goals for municipal and state climate policy. ME Strikes and the MYCJ coalition rallied support for legislation that would divest state funds from fossil fuels this past year. Anna’s work, along with an intergenerational coalition of adult allies, legislators, pensioners, and other youth organizers, contributed to the success of the first-in-the-nation legislation, a $1.3 billion divestment of fossil fuels which serves as a model for other states. The success of LD 99 is a testament to the power of intensely collaborative grassroots advocacy. Anna co-founded Maine Youth Action in 2021, an organization that is taking on new tangible, bold, and equitable policy efforts all centered around the goal of repairing the world.

Lindsay Sobel

Chatsworth, CA | 18

After visiting one of the largest homeless encampments in the world in Los Angeles, located not far from her own hometown, Lindsay saw an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness by founding Shoes for Souls. What began with cleaning out her closet to provide gently worn shoes to those in need has grown into a movement with more than 52,000 pairs of shoes donated over the past six years.

Sophie Wolters

Sammamish, WA | 18

Valuing the transformative impact that an academic tutor had on her own ability to believe in herself, Sophie was troubled that families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds often cannot afford extra academic support. Sophie created Student Connection with her brother Josh to make a difference in the lives of students and provide the same motivational support that made such a deep impact on her own life. Since its founding in 2019, Student Connection has paired 500 students and trained tutors for year-long tutoring, logging 15,000 hours of tutoring sessions.

Dylan Zajac

Hoboken, NJ | 19

When he was just 15 years old, Dylan saw that lack of access to technology was often holding students back from completing online homework and preventing adults from applying for jobs. Dylan realized that there was an opportunity to close this gap and provide access to computers to those who cannot afford them by refurbishing computers that others had intended to throw away.

Kelly Danielpour

Los Angeles, CA | 18

According to the W.H.O., vaccine hesitancy is a top threat to global health. Kelly founded VaxTeen to educate teens and young adults on the importance of vaccines and empower them to make well-informed decisions regarding their health.

Sam Friedman

West Palm Beach, FL | 17

After recognizing how technical illiteracy can leave seniors behind, Sam founded South Florida Tech for Seniors, a nonprofit that provides free, one-on-one technology support for seniors in South Florida.

Sarah Frank

Tampa, FL | 17

Troubled by the inequality of education resources as students struggled during the pandemic, Sarah built Simple Studies Inc, an organization that offers free resources for and by students to help every student reach their academic potential.

Hannah Frazer

Highland Park, IL | 19

Hannah developed the Question Connection card game to facilitate interpersonal connection and cultivate empathy at a time when social media and technology inhibit open communication.

Daniel Goldberg

Santa Barbara, CA | 17

Daniel leveraged his low risk for serious illness during the pandemic to provide free grocery delivery services and social support to the elderly and immunocompromised through ZoomersToBoomers.

Jordan Grabelle

Voorhees, NJ | 16

At the age of 10, inspired by her love of reading and early volunteering experience, Jordan founded Love Letters for Literacy, which recruits volunteers across the globe to create fun literacy packets for underserved communities.

Sari Kaufman

Parkland, FL | 18

A survivor of the Parkland, FL shooting, Sari knew firsthand the importance of informed political engagement. She co-founded the civic education organization and website MyVote Project to increase voter education and political accountability nationwide.

Maurice Korish

Randolph, NJ | 17

When the pandemic increased the demand for and necessity of grocery delivery, Maurice co-founded Deliver Together to match vulnerable individuals with local teen volunteers who provide free, reliable grocery delivery services.

Jerry Orans

Mamaroneck, NY | 16

When medical facilities lacked PPE, Jerry realized that he could mobilize people with home tools to help; he co-founded Hack The Pandemic to crowdsource the manufacturing and distribution of PPE for first responders.

Sarah Shapiro

Northridge, CA | 17

An ambitious education advocate, Sarah recognized the need for both accessible academic and extracurricular services during the pandemic. She co-founded The Covid NineTEEN Project, an international organization offering free one-on-one tutoring and activities ranging from the arts to academics to athletics, serving elementary students around the world.

Hope Shinderman

Pacific Palisades, CA | 17

When the pandemic exacerbated education inequality, Hope founded Bored of Boredom, an organization that helps diverse students worldwide access free academic and extracurricular resources, mobilizes participants to fight for social justice, and works to close the digital divide.

Emanuelle Sippy

Lexington, KY | 17

As a youth activist, Emanuelle knew the value of collecting stories as well as statistics. She organized the Coping with COVID-19 Student-to-Student Study, a survey of nearly 10,000 Kentucky students, to identify and address issues of education inequity, create a community of support, and affect policy changes.

Daniel Solomon

Miami, FL | 17

Legally blind since birth, Daniel combined his passions for orchestral music and equitable access to the arts to found Pinecrest City Music Project, Inc., a licensed charitable organization that operates, funds, and instructs musical arts programs in Miami public schools.

Lauren Tapper

Chicago, IL | 15

Inspired to create a platform for building community amid the isolation of the pandemic, Lauren co-founded Covid-TV, an online platform offering peer-to-peer emotional and mental health support and conducting social justice projects and activism on a global scale.

Alana Weisberg

Los Angeles, CA | 15

When Alana, an avid reader, realized that school closures had left students in underserved communities without access to libraries and books, she founded Bookworm Global, which promotes literacy and supports the environment through gently-used-book giveaways and library installations in low-income communities.

Max Astrachan

Enola, PA | 18

Max harnessed his experience as a witness to prejudice within his own school and founded SPIRIT to organize for policy, programming, and curricular changes which combat discrimination.

Abe Baker-Butler

Rye Brook, NY | 18

Abe was motivated by the smoking-induced illness in his own family and started Students Against Nicotine to reduce and eradicate teenage smoking and vaping through education and legislative advocacy.

Nathan Balk King

Provincetown, MA | 19

Nathan created Model United Nations: Indigenous to empower other indigenous students to participate in Model United Nations as well as public policy and human rights advocacy within the public sphere.

Peyton Barsel

Las Vegas, NV | 18

Peyton started Trauma-informed Training for Educators to organize legislative action and provide teachers the training to support students who have experienced trauma.

Hollis Belger

Larkspur, CA | 15

Hollis turned her concern about pediatric cancer into Juggling for Jude, a sustained fundraising campaign which supports St. Jude Children’s Hospital’s mission to provide pediatric cancer treatment at no cost to its patients.

Sonia Chajet Wides

Brooklyn, NY | 16

Sonia was inspired by her experience campaigning during the 2016 election to help teenagers educate themselves about global issues and get involved in politics through Teens Resist.

Isha Clarke

Oakland, CA | 17

Isha fights to reverse the climate crisis and address the iniquitous effects it has on low-income and communities of color by organizing community action and battling for legislative change through Youth Vs. Apocalypse.

Jacob Cramer

Pepper Pike, OH | 19

Jacob was inspired by experience as an assisted living facility volunteer and started Love for the Elderly to address the isolation and loneliness prevalent in senior facilities.

Sophie Draluck

Highland Park, IL | 18

Sophie champions equity for women and girls who lack affordable access to or education about menstrual products through Cycle Forward.

Liza Goldberg

Clarksville, MD | 18

Liza discovered there was no data tracking system for global mangrove loss and, during an internship with NASA, developed EcoMap to provide scientists, conservationists, and communities the information they need to identify mangrove ecosystems that demand intervention and make informed policy decisions.

Jonah Gottlieb

Petaluma, CA | 18

Jonah founded the National Children’s Campaign to amplify the voices of young people in the political arena through organizing, direct action, and lobbying.

Jamie Margolin

Seattle, WA | 18

Jamie was moved to act by the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and launched Zero Hour to battle for climate and environmental justice through youth-led action and organizing in cities throughout the world.

Zachary Patterson

San Diego, CA | 16

Zachary established a Student Board Member within his school district, and founded a Student Advisory Board, to provide students representation in their school system and advocate for youth-centered policy at the state and federal levels.

Noah Rubin

Boca Raton, FL | 17

Noah developed computer programming workshops and facilitated peer mentorship for children who lack access to or cannot afford extracurricular activities through canCODE.

Olivia Seltzer

Santa Barbara, CA | 15

Olivia developed a news outlet following the 2016 election cycle to keep teens informed about important issues through the platforms they utilize the most.

Ethan Asher

Roswell, GA | 16

Ethan was inspired by fellow teen activists and started March for Our Lives Georgia to help stop gun violence.

Malcolm Asher

Portland, OR | 17

Malcolm improves patient experience, reduces fear and stigma, and brings the healing power of art to children in hospitals with ArtPass International.

Lucy Beckett

Elk Grove, CA | 17

Lucy brings the magic of summer camp to refugee children and helps them make friends and adjust to their new homes through Camp Nefesh.

Beatriz De Oliveira

San Diego, CA | 16

Beatriz developed coursework and collects donations to purchase books for daycares around the world sharing the power of fiction through Books for a Change.

John Finkelman

San Diego, CA | 18

John used his own experiences with a mixed identity and started Equal Voice Initiative to address the lack of support given to newly arrived refugees.

Elyse Forman

Los Angeles, CA | 17

Elyse began an after school program called Girls in STEM to help close the gender gap in science and engineering.

Grace Freedman

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL | 17

Grace and her organization JaxTHRIVE use one-on-one mentoring and tutoring to improve the academic performance of refugee children.

Arielle Geismar

New York, NY | 17

Arielle created NYC Says Enough (NYCSE), an outlet for teen action, to address the systemic causes of gun violence and hold elected officials accountable.

Jessica Goldberg

Farmington Hills, MI | 17

Jessica discovered a lack of resources available for siblings of individuals who encounter mental health challenges and established Sib4Sib.

Ethan Hirschberg

Carlsbad, CA | 17

Ethan shares his own experiences with the world and inspires others via his blog The Journey Through Autism, as well as through other written work and public speaking.

Adam Hoffman

Houston, TX | 18

Adam decided to put people before politics with Day of Unity, an organization devoted to shrinking the gap between political parties.

Britton Masback

Portland, OR | 17

Britton founded Youth Educating Police to stem the widening gap between police and youth and to combat inequitable policing by facilitating dialogue and designing training modules.

Katelyn McInerney

Birmingham, AL | 17

Katelyn began Special Siblings in response to her own unmet needs for support as a sister to someone with special needs.

Solomon Olshin

Portland, OR | 17

Solomon founded Shine to help meet the basic needs of houseless Portlanders living in off-grid communities by developing cutting-edge, environmentally-sustainable and cost-effective technologies.

Casey Sherman

Parkland, FL | 17

Casey and Empower the People work to provide voices to the voiceless through peer-to-peer voter registration and community engagement.

Adam Sella

Cincinnati, OH | 18

Adam founded his high school’s chapter of Students Together Assisting Refugees to mobilize students to support resettled refugee families.

Daniel Zahn

Allentown, PA | 19

Daniel co-launched F.O.R.M. Consulting, which recruited college student-mentors to conduct one-on-one sessions with prospective students from underserved communities.

Dillon Eisman

Malibu, CA | 17

Dillon founded Sew Swag, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization creatively reusing donated apparel for the homeless youth population in the greater Los Angeles area.

Emilia Peters

Los Angeles, CA | 16

Emilia co-founded KEM Creative, to bring free, teen-taught art instruction to children in transitional housing and underserved communities.

Genevieve Liu

Chicago, IL | 18

Genevieve created SLAP’D, a social media platform for teens who have lost a parent.

Helena Zimmerman

Purchase, NY | 16

Helena helped high school students find their own tikkun olam projects by co-founding TeensGive.org, a non-profit creating rewarding and flexible volunteer opportunities for high school students.

Lena Goldstein

Arnold, MD | 18

Lena created a protocol and partnered with organizations in developing countries to offer cost-effective cervical cancer screenings.

Madeline Salvatierra

North Tustin, CA | 17

Madeline enabled low-income youth to pursue their dream careers through hands-on activities helping them explore career opportunities.

Michaela Weinstein

Albany, CA | 15

Michaela co-founded Speak, a student group providing a unique curriculum that teaches empathy and social justice to 5th grade students.

Minnah Stein

Sarasota, FL | 17

Minnah created EMPOWERU to educate K-12 students about consent, safety, sexual harassment and assault.

Natalie Hampton

Sherman Oaks, CA | 16

Natalie created Sit with Us, a free lunch-planning mobile app that helps middle and high school students coordinate lunches with friends or look for open invitations to lunch tables.

Peyton Klein

Pittsburgh, PA | 16

Peyton created the Global Minds Initiative (GMI) to advocate for inclusive and welcoming schools by supporting immigrant and refugee students

Sara Blau

Brookville, NY | 16

Sara launched Game Changers New York (GCNY), a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to empower youth around the world by providing the means and opportunity to become athletes.

Stephanie Reifman

Upper Saddle River, NJ | 17

Stephanie founded H.A.P.P.Y. Week, a heroin education and prevention program for middle and high school students.

Yardena Gerwin

New York, NY | 18

Yardena organized her peers to advocate for girls worldwide, combating global sexism through legislative reform and activism.

Julie Averbach

Short Hills, NJ | 17

Julie created Adventures From My World, a comic book that uses art therapy to support families of individuals with special needs by spotlighting the daily joys and challenges they face.

Evan Barnard

Johns Creek, GA | 18

Evan Barnard began an initiative that advocates for inclusive public spaces for the disabled worldwide while connecting the visually impaired with accessible outdoor opportunities.

Gabriella Cooperman

Highland Park, IL | 16

When Gabriella Cooperman saw how therapeutic horse riding was for her sister who has special needs, she came up with the idea that sparked Cookies for Charity, a large-scale lemonade and cookie stand.

Sarah Katherine Eder

Shorewood, WI | 17

Katie Eder’s commitment to sharing her passion for creative writing with other youth led her to found Kids Tales. Designed to teach underprivileged kids creative writing skills, the organization has grown from eighteen students in one community to a global non-profit with hundreds of teens teaching more than 1,000 children across the globe.

Taylor Gleeson

Lafayette, CO | 19

Experiences with the normalization of violence inspired Taylor to launch Students United Against Gun Violence.

Nathaniel Goodman

San Diego, CA | 18

Through his initiative Filmmaking For Good, Nathaniel produces promotional videos and testimonials for non-profits.

Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky

Davis, CA | 17

Benjamin Hoffner-Brodsky leveraged his significant involvement with Youth Leadership Davis (YLD) to provide an outlet for informed, compassionate, and spiritual students to engage with their community.

Michael Ioffe

Portland, OR | 17

Michale Ioffee is the founder of TILE, (Talks about Innovation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship) a non-profit which offers free monthly conversations with innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs for high school and college students, particularly from low-income backgrounds.

Sydney Kamen

Washington, D.C. | 19

Sydney created So Others Are Protected (SOAP), a self-empowerment initiative that addresses issues surrounding sanitation and the spread of disease in the under-resourced world.

Sabina London

Haworth, NJ | 18

Sabina turned one middle school and high school girls’ science camp into over twenty free STEM summer programs across fourteen states.

Elias Rosenthal

Santa Rosa, CA | 17

Elias organized twin projects: Teens4Health.org and Teens4Biz.org. Teen4Health.org encourages health and fitness literacy while Teens4Biz.org promotes financial literacy, public speaking skills, leadership, and college and career guidance for teens.

Asa Schaeffer

Santa Cruz, CA | 17

Asa Schaeffer organized a Challenger Baseball league, where players who have physical or developmental disabilities are paired with Little League players, aka “buddies.”

Oliver Stern

Miami Beach, FL | 16

Oliver realized other children with disabilities were not as fortunate. In response, he launched his project Our Abilities, which has educated over 900 students at North Beach Elementary about issues concerning disability advocacy.

Shira Strongin

Corona Del Mar, CA | 17

Shira Strongin knows firsthand how lonely it can be to suffer from rare diseases. To reach other kids like herself, Shira founded Sick Chicks, a community about coping with illness and disability that unites thousands of young women around the world.

Jordan Yaffe

Lutherville, MD | 17

Jordan developed Dunks for Diabetes (D4D), an annual basketball tournament that raises funds nationwide for the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Kayla Abramowitz

North Palm Beach, FL | 14

Kayla developed an organization that lifts the spirits of young patients nationwide by donating recreational items to keep youth engaged and motivated during long hospital stays.

Brittany Paris Amano

Honolulu, HI | 18

Brittany Amano formed a project that combats malnutrition in youth living in poverty-stricken and low-income communities through peer mentoring, cooking lessons, and donations of nutritious food and school supplies.

Max Davis

Stoneham, MA | 14

Maxwell Davis created a community project that engages youth in advocacy and lobbying efforts to raise funds to provide unaccompanied homeless youth with housing and supportive services.

Talia Eskenazi

New York, NY | 16

Talia Eskenazi co-founded a non-profit organization that hosts birthday parties for disadvantaged children, to spread happiness, raise self-esteem, and create memorable experiences.

Jessica Goldberg

Saint Louis, MO | 17

Jessica Goldberg co-founded an organization that hosts an annual talent show to raise funds to provide disadvantaged students with the school supplies they need to be successful learners.

Alexa Grabelle

Voorhees, NJ | 15

Alexa Grabelle formed a program that helps close the reading gap by collecting and donating new and gently used books to students in underserved communities.

Isaiah Granet

San Diego, CA | 16

Isaiah Granet created a non-profit ice-hockey league to offer a welcoming community to children with developmental disabilities where they can connect with peers and gain self-confidence.

Corinne Hindes

Walnut Creek, CA | 16

Corinne Hindes co-founded an initiative that engages teen volunteers to collect unwanted warm apparel from ski resorts and distribute it to homeless people to help protect them during the winter months.

Alexandra Jackman

Westfield, NJ | 16

Alexandra Jackman is an autism advocate, and the creator of an award-winning documentary that is used in schools nationwide to increase autism awareness, acceptance, and education.

Michael Mottahedeh

Calabasas, CA | 18

Michael Mottahedeh expanded awareness and involvement for a local program that works to reduce juvenile delinquency rates. Teens suspected of committing misdemeanors get chance to clear their records by presenting their case to a jury of their peers.

Laurielle Schwab

Running Springs, CA | 18

Laurielle Schwab launched a program that pairs teens with elementary school children in one-on one and group settings to help foster a love for reading, build comprehension skills, and increase classroom engagement.

Zachary Stier

Paramus, NJ | 18

Zachary Stier established a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains teen volunteers to provide free one-on-one personalized tutoring to students struggling in math and cannot afford to pay for a private tutor.

Eli Wachs

Bryn Mawr, PA | 18

Eli Wachs hosts incentivized competitions to give students a platform to problem-solve issues in their community and effect meaningful change on a global scale.

Valerie Weisler

New City, NY | 18

Valerie Weisler founded an international non-profit organization that empowers teens to gain self-confidence, overcome bullying and other personal obstacles, and tap into their skills to create solutions for social justice issues.

Shira Alcouloumre

Laguna Beach, CA | 16

Shira provides food, clothing, gifts, medical care, and English lessons to the day laborers in her community—inspired, in part, by a childhood lesson involving a peach.

Zachary Azrael

Baltimore, MD | 18

Zachary helps at-risk kids realize their dreams while also offering classmates service opportunities that matter.

Sophie Bernstein

St. Louis, MO | 15

What began as a backyard garden and Bat Mitzvah project has blossomed into over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce for St. Louis families and a program to combat childhood hunger and obesity.

Liesl Eibschutz

San Luis Obispo, CA | 17

Homeless and disadvantaged teens are often an invisible minority on high school campuses. Liesl created a club to provide these peers with financial assistance, basic necessities, and college scholarships.

Emmi Eisner

Encino, CA | 16

Emmi knew well the benefits that go along with playing sports and wanted to make sure other kids had a chance to enjoy the activities she previously took for granted.

Hart Fogel

Mill Valley, CA | 16

Hart found a way to combine his community garden work and passion for restorative justice to bring together a diverse community over fresh, healthy food.

Jake Galant

Dallas, TX | 17

For low-income youth in his community, Jake is transforming a career in computer programming from a dream to reality.

Riley Gantt

Sherman Oaks, CA | 14

At only 10 years old, Riley founded a nonprofit to help provide low-income elementary schoolers with the supplies they need to be successful learners.

Marissa Hacker

Voorhees, NJ | 18

Marissa struggled with the social isolation she saw her autistic brother facing every day. So, she created a fun, welcoming, inclusive organization for him and other kids with special needs.

Matthew Kaplan

Phoenix, AZ | 18

When he learned that some of his brother’s classmates had been bullying him, Matthew decided to address the pernicious bullying pervasive among his peers.

Jessica Markowitz

Seattle, WA | 19

A childhood meeting with a human rights advocate inspired Jessica to embark on a journey of empowering girls her age in Rwanda to succeed in school and grow into community leaders.

Lauren Maunus

Palm City, FL | 17

Lauren has become a tireless advocate for giving students the tools to manage their allergies and make healthy choices in the cafeteria.

Ben Moelis

Hewlett, NY | 18

Ben led a team of 25 in a community-wide project: creating a game to help kids with Fragile-X Syndrome (on the autism spectrum) manage stressful moments without anxiety.

Ruthie Perlman

Greenville, SC | 17

By bringing together Jewish teens, Ruthie has strengthened the small Jewish community in her hometown, helping previously isolated local teens connect and develop pride in their Jewish identity.

Andrew Plotch

Fair Lawn, NJ | 19

A simple yet powerful tool that Andrew developed—a fill in the blank sticker that reads, "I believe in..."—has catalyzed conversations about important issues in high schools across the country.

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.

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.

Zak Kukoff

Thousand Oaks, CA | 17

Zak’s project, Autism Ambassadors, works to create a positive learning and social environment for autistic students while helping develop understanding of and empathy for autism among neuro-typical students.

Joe Langerman

Coronado, CA | 19

Joe created Voices Against Cruelty, Hatred and Intolerance (VACHI) to educate teachers, students, and parents about the negative effects bullying can have on youth.

Daniel Rosenthal

Santa Rosa, CA | 15

Daniel created Magic Is Medicine to bring the joy of magic to those needing an emotional lift, including hospital patients and residents in rehabilitation and assisted living centers.

Adam Weinstein

Los Angeles, CA | 18

Adam's tutoring program encourages and stimulates an enthusiasm for the study of math and science in Los Angeles-area school-aged children through after school engagement and enrichment.

Celine Yousefzadeh

Los Angeles, CA | 19

Celine's fashion shows empower high school students to have fun while raising money for causes that support youth-focused charities in Israel.

Gabe Ferrick

Santa Rosa, CA | 16

Gabe's walks raise awareness and funds to ameliorate the suffering of survivors of contemporary genocide in Africa.

Liza Gurtin

La Jolla, CA | 17

Liza's leadership in the Walk for Water helped raise awareness and over $40,000 to build water wells throughout Tanzania, Nicaragua, and around the world.

Naftali Moed

Pacifica, CA | 16

Naftali conceived of, rallied support for, and led the building of an organic garden at his high school that he designed to promote organic farming and preservation of green space.

Casey Robbins

Carmichael, CA | 17

Casey collected thousands of books for schools in Liberia, following the devastation of their 14-year civil war.

Daniel Sobajian

Los Angeles, CA | 17

Daniel organized school supply drives in the Los Angeles area, ensuring that children of all economic realities could return to school each fall with the supplies needed to fully participate in the classroom.

Jason Bade

Foster City | 19

Jason engaged like-minded students in a successful effort to have solar power generation installed at the six high schools across his school district.

Megan Kilroy

Santa Monica | 18

Megan worked to raise teen and adults consciousness on how their consumption and recycling choices impact our oceans and our planet.

David Schenirer

Sacramento | 18

David worked to ensure all teens in his community had access to the social, academic, and pre-professional resources all teens need to succeed.

David Weingarten

Woodland Hills | 18

David made the most of his involvement in United Synagogue Youth (USY) to assist Jewish youth of the Abayudaya tribe in Uganda to develop a strong Jewish youth culture.

Kyle Weiss

Danville | 17

Kyle raises money to provide soccer fields, soccer equipment and to host soccer tournaments throughout Africa and beyond.

Max Einhorn

La Jolla | 18

Max helped raise awareness about disaster preparedness planning and raised funds to support emergency preparedness services in his local community.

Eric Feldman

Palo Verdes Estates | 18

Eric was inspired by his grandfather’s example to use jazz and classical music concerts to raise funds to pay for the education of orphans in Kenya.

Aaron Feuer

Los Angeles | 18

Aaron engaged and worked with membership of California high school’s student councils in order to harness their leadership potential to address issues critical to public education.

Jackie Rotman

Santa Barbara | 17

Jackie used dance as a vehicle for helping at-risk youth develop greater self-esteem and a sense of the value and importance of community service.

Erin Schrode

Ross | 18

Erin was inspired to educate teens about the environmental impact of their shopping habits to promote healthy and green choices.

Ronit Abramson

San Diego | 17

Ronit's dedication to environmentalism and science led her to be the San Diego Zoo’s 2008 Arctic Ambassador for the Year of the Polar Bear, enabling her to share with students all over the world the results of her studies in the Canadian Arctic.

Eric Heimark

Palo Alto | 18

Eric was motivated to help youth in the developing world based on their pressing needs, and to help privileged teens in other countries see themselves as actors empowered to support this effort.

Shelby Layne

Pacific Palisades | 17

Shelby created, gathered, and sold jewelry to raise funds to purchase solar ovens for refugees from the genocide in Darfur.

Fred Scarf

Sherman Oaks | 18

Deeply impacted by a friend’s death from cancer, Fred created a fundraising and programming effort to aid in cancer research funding and to address the social and emotional needs of teens living with cancer.

Sarah Van Zanten

Palo Alto | 19

Sarah became an advocate for prevention of teen relationship violence after her own personal experience with it, serving as an educator and a role model for young women in such situations.

Amanda Haworth

La Jolla | 16

Amanda, seeing and experience intolerance of others among her high school classmates, developed a tolerance education program that was initially launched with high school students and then formalized as part of the middle school curriculum.

Allison Hoffman

Los Altos | 17

Allison Hoffman created YADA: Youth Alliance for Darfur Action to leverage the energy and passion of her fellow high school students to draw greater public attention to the genocide in Darfur and to work to lessen its impact.

Justin Sachs

Carlsbad | 18

Justin created a program encouraging teens to develop their leadership potential and abilities while also serving the needs of the underprivileged in their community.

Shira Shane

Encino | 18

Shira worked to bring attention to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan and to engage teens in securing aid for those in need of support and protection.

Erich Sorger

Beverly Hills | 16

Erich created a program that reduced student waste on the UCLA campus and supported the National Council of Jewish Women's programs to assist women, children, and families in need.