Vision: A world of gender equality. Action: Some campaigns portray the feminist cause as “man-hating.” By involving both genders in the #HeForShe campaign, Watson hopes to abolish the “us vs. them” mentality. She has launched a campaign that aims to galvanize one billion men and boys to end female inequality. As she’s said to men, “It’s your fight too.” www.HeForShe.org
Vision: Democracy depends on a citizenry that is highly informed and deeply engaged in the issues that affect their lives. Action: First Look’s insistence on editorial independence has already attracted some of the most fiercely independent journalists around. Omidyar seeks to improve society through journalism and technology, and to hold those in power accountable. www.FirstLook.org
Vision: A world where every individual has the courage and compassion to act and make a difference in their community. Action: Created an apparel brand to fund his vision, then established the Academy of Agents of Change – combining adventure learning and social entrepreneurship. Courage + Compassion = Agent of Change. www.LonesomeGeorge.net
Vision: To use entertainment to inform, inspire, spark and accelerate positive social change. Action: Uses film, television and digital entertainment to tell high quality, socially relevant and commercially viable stories. Invests in content distribution platforms that allow them to expand their reach. Creates social action campaigns to move content off- screen and into the community. www.ParticipantMedia.com
Vision: A world where little girls know they can grow up to be a leader if they have a mind to. Action: As the immediate past Chair of the Women’s YPO Network (WYN) Carol gave a powerful organization a voice it never knew it had. Her team forged unity across nationalities, religions, industries and boundaries and became a beacon for advancing women in leadership positions. WYN provides role models for both sexes. www.TatonkaCapital.com
Vision: A world in balance, where climate justice prevails and children no longer have to fight for survival. Action: The 17-year-old passed his target of planting a million trees in his home country Germany, and kept on going. To date, 30,000 Climate Justice Ambassadors have planted 13 billion trees in 131 countries. “There is still space for 1,000 billion more,” he says. www.Plant-For-The-Planet.org
It all started with a school presentation at his school in Germany and today Plant-for-the-Planet is a global movement with an ambitious goal: to fight the climate crisis by planting trees around the world.
Inspired by Wangari Maathai, who planted 30 million trees in Africa in 30 years, Felix formulated his vision: Children could plant one million trees in every country on earth and thereby offset CO2 emissions all on their own – while adults are still talking about doing it. Each tree binds a CO2 intake of 10 kg per year.
Within a year, Klaus Töpfer, former German Federal Minister of the Environment and executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) became an official patron. Finkbeiner then became a UNEP Junior Board Member and gave speeches at important environment and climate events, including the European Parliament. Plant-for-the-Planet academies were established in Germany and around the world. These are events organized by children, for children, where they motivate each other to take action against the climate crisis. The children become active Climate Justice Ambassadors and pass on their knowledge and encourage other children to take on social responsibility and shape their future.
To popularize the campaign Finkbeiner started the “Stop talking. Start planting” campaign. This was characterized by a series of photographs of himself with famous supporters such as Harrison Ford, Prince Albert of Monaco and Michael Otto, with his hand over their mouths.
Vision: A society that nurtures tolerance and understanding among all people. Action: Twenty-something Sridharan invented a mobile app that provides real-time information on water availability in India via SMS. In addition to serving the needs of women in developing countries she has helped solve a problem that affects 90 percent of Asia. www.NextDrop.org
Vision: An accident-free workplace. Action: Dedicated to protecting your most valuable asset – your employees – Copeland collaborates, brainstorms and actively provides safety advice to more than 300,000 workers. She knows that legislation alone is not adequate to provide safety in the workplace and has trademarked a four-stage advantage plan to keep employees safe. The Arbill University offers thought leadership. www.Arbill.com
Vision: We must expand life beyond this green and blue ball or go extinct. Action: Musk says his ideas can change history. At his car company, employees believe they are saving the planet, and at the rocket company, they believe in giving the inhabitants of this world a second chance on another planet – if this one gets messed up. His open software approach to propriety information is also revolutionary. www.TeslaMotors.com
Vision: A society free of prejudice. Action: Parks refused to give up her seat to a white commuter on a bus in 1955. She became an icon of the modern Civil Rights Movement and a symbol of peaceful resistance to racial segregation. Her small, quiet and lone protest was to have a huge influence on the self-worth of an entire nation, one that still inspires many today. www.RosaParksFacts.com
