Nani founded Systemic Justice, an organisation that seeks to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social and economic justice. Throughout her career, Nani has seen first-hand how unequal power structures in society affect people’s ability to exercise their rights. By broadening access to judicial remedies and strengthening their ability to leverage the power of the courts, Systemic Justice helps dismantle unequal power structures. 

Unlike traditional approaches that often rely on legal experts guiding the agenda, Systemic Justice employs a cooperative model, centering around collaborative efforts and close partnerships with the communities most affected by social and environmental challenges. 

Over five years, Nani has achieved landmark rulings in 60 human rights cases, including the successful case against the Dutch government’s use of an automated surveillance system (SyRI), used to detect possible benefits and tax fraud based on information from government databases. 

Dan Acher fosters large-scale community engagement through participative events and immersive installations, aiming to reduce urban isolation and cultivate a shared sense of belonging. His organization, Happy City Lab, designs inclusive experiences that encourage citizen interaction, ownership of public spaces, and cultural accessibility. This "artivist” is responsible for the monumental #WeAreWatching eye, made up of thousands of portraits from 190 countries, that flies over the COP Conferences inviting government leaders to be more proactive in addressing climate change. By empowering individuals to actively shape their cities, Dan's initiatives promote social cohesion, activism, and pride in communities, inspiring a wave of citizen-led urban revitalization. 

Anna-Lena founded Hateaid to create strategies to combat rising hate speech and cyber-violence, safeguarding democratic values online. They empower victims with support services and legal aid, shifting prosecution practices to hold perpetrators accountable. Her advocacy influences policymakers, driving legislative reforms and institutionalizing measures to protect online discourse. By engaging law enforcement and fostering cross-sector collaborations, they take a comprehensive approach to defend civil democratic spaces in the digital realm. This is, for example, was HateAid’s positioning regarding the viral #TaylorSwiftAI deep fakes that circulated a few months back. You can also watch our interview with Anna-Lena here.

Hera Hussain founded Chayn, an online platform addressing gender-based violence through survivor-centric resources. Chayn offers support in multiple languages, led by survivor-volunteers. Their trauma-informed approach fosters healing and empowerment. Chayn’s impact reaches 500,000 users globally. In the tech sector, Hera has become a champion in helping organisations understand how their architecture allows for harassment online and offline, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to become part of the solution. Through Chayn’s partnership with dating app Bumble, providing support to their users who have faced harassment or assault, Chayn has quickly become a leader in the tech and online dating space for helping companies think through prevention of abuse and harassment online. 

Dr. Frank Hoffmann pioneers a cost-effective breast examination method, training blind women as skilled diagnosticians to detect cancer earlier and improve patient experience. In Germany, one out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives.  Given the country’s limited preventative breast cancer diagnosis options, Discovering Hands creates a new profession, Medical Tactile Examiners, integrating blind individuals into healthcare. With superior touch sensitivity, they provide more thorough and personalized exams, significantly reducing costs and opening doors for the differently-abled. Health services in Europe including Ireland, France, Denmark, U.K., and Austria have shown interest in launching an equivalent system in their countries. 

Adnane was elected Ashoka Fellow for his work in driving an innovation-oriented education system in Morocco, by equipping students to transform their schools through their own innovations. Through his initiative, aimed to influence the education system so that it produces innovative changemakers rather than vulnerable, unemployable young people, high school students launch their own solutions to challenges they identify in their schools.  

A three-module training in community, business, and personal development equips them with skills such as creativity, communication, leadership or critical thinking as they collaborate with each other to develop their own projects. 

Currently, Adnane is furthering the social innovation field in Morrocco as the cofounder of the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE) an organization dedicated to finding entrepreneurial and innovative solutions to every social challenge in the country. 

Growing up without citizenship in Germany, Christiana Bukalo intimately understands the isolation of statelessness. She is pioneering the world's first community for and by stateless individuals, providing belonging, amplifying voices, and offering representation often denied due to citizenship status. By connecting grassroots empowerment with institutional change, she transforms these groups into active participants in societal dialogues. At the same time, she is working to shift societal perceptions, emphasizing that statelessness doesn't mean 'rightlessness,' and championing the intrinsic human right to belong and engage in society. 

Jacek is establishing a self-sustaining ecosystem to ensure technology serves the common good. With Tech To The Rescue, he bridges the gap between tech and civic sectors, encouraging collaboration through an online marketplace that connects IT companies with social impact organisations. By training CSOs and IT companies, Jacek sparks projects that impact over three million lives globally. His vision is for every changemaker to leverage tech effectively, creating exponential social impact and transforming the tech industry's values. You can find a recent interview with Jacek in the CEO Magazine. 

Raul founded Sozialhelden, a multifaceted organisation that makes individuals, institutions and businesses aware of the importance of considering people with disabilities as a target group for their products and services. Their belief is that breaking down barriers and creating accessibility is a human right that not only benefits people with disabilities, but everyone else around them. Some of the projects under Sozialhelden include Wheelmap, the world’s largest online map marking wheelchair-friendly places; Gesellschaftsbilder, a database of professional stock photos representing a wide perspective and diversity; or Leidmedien, a consultancy program on how to write about and portray disability in the media. Raul is a best-selling author and recently published a children’s book about young Ela’s dream to become an astronaut.

Alain is creating a new grassroots movement for Black men in Germany, centered around their identity as fathers. By doing so, he is helping to foster positive images of Black fatherhood within German identity and systematically centering Black narratives and representation in German culture and society for generations to come, particularly through children's literature.

In Germany, anti-Black racism is prevalent but often unacknowledged, with Black men facing deeply negative stereotypes. Additionally, the public library system lacks children's books featuring positive Black-centered stories, leaving Black children without strong role models and representation. Alain has tackled these issues by creating Black Dads Germany, the first community for Black men focused on their identity as fathers. This growing movement has gathered over 1,000 dads in seven cities, empowering them as changemakers in their communities.

By organizing hundreds of events in public spaces, including readings of Black-centered children's books, these dads are transforming the public image of Black fatherhood in German society. Furthermore, Alain collaborates with publishing companies and librarians to introduce new Black-centered books into public libraries, thereby influencing curational practices and creating demand for more diverse children's literature.

Although 40,000 agencies work with the homeless in the U.S., only a handful systematically studies the patterns of homelessness and apply research to practice.  

Community Solutions brings together and assists communities throughout the U.S. and globally in implementing systems that measurably end homelessness and change the conditions that produce it. With this intention, Rosanne has created a movement of over 100 cities and counties that have committed to measurably ending homelessness for entire populations, by providing permanent housing for the chronically homeless, addressing other root-causes such as drug dependency and physical or psychological impairment, and advocating for public policy. You can find a recent interview with Rosanne Haggerty on Welcome Change, and Forbes.  

Max founded Brand New Bundestag (BNB), a grassroots organisation with the aim of supporting progressive candidates from previously underrepresented groups on their way into parliament. With 12 successful candidates in various German parliaments and several viral social media campaigns, Max seeks to bring civil society closer to parliamentary work with a movement politics approach.  Most recently, BNB presented a list of 100 democratic, future-oriented politicians for the EU elections of June 2024. Together with partner organisations from 10 EU countries, it aimed to promote non-partisan, democratic cooperation in an international context. 

NeedsMap revamps aid sector dynamics by facilitating transparent exchanges and peer-to-peer solidarity. The online platform allows individuals to list and respond to poverty-related needs, bridging the gap between donors and recipients. It brings together volunteers, donors and benefactors, also fostering offline communities. By leveraging big data, NeedsMap advises governments and aid organizations, enhancing transparency and efficiency when there is large demand for aid. Since 2015, the platform has been used by more than 120,000 members and 350 NGOs, while more than 10.5 million items of need were met. During the February 2023 earthquakes, that caused 53,000 deaths and affected more than 15 million people in Turkey, NeedsMap was key in coordinating effective and largescale aid across the country.  

In an era of vast flows of unfiltered information, when the general public often cannot distinguish between science, pseudoscience and misinformation, Theo creatively engages schools, scientists, journalists, and the general public to create a culture of science literacy. 

He engages various stakeholders with innovative interventions, from science festivals to school programs, targeting both the public and educators. By making science accessible, fun, and relevant, he counters misinformation and integrates scientific literacy into society. Theo and SciCo have successfully created a “pop culture of science” in Greece and Cyprus, and their interventions are expanding throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America. 

Christoph aims to make sustainability, nature and food a permanent element in formal education. Having grown up on a farm, the birth of his daughter in 2012 made him consider how nature should be a fixed component of the educational system. Today Christoph leads Acker, and with a team of 200 people is committed to fostering the appreciation of nature and food from an early age. Through its educational programs, Acker has established vegetable gardens as nature-based learning environments in over 1,600 schools and pre-schools in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. By 2030, Acker wants to enable every child to experience the entire growth process of food during their school years.  

The Good Ancestor Movement disrupts the mainstream private wealth industry by challenging traditional ideas about the economy, excessive wealth accumulation, tax minimisation, and resource and power redistribution. As the UK's first advisory firm dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations in radical wealth redistribution, they aim to transform how wealth is managed and shared. 

Over the next 20-30 years, approximately £70 trillion is poised to transfer between generations, with £5.5 trillion in the UK alone. Concurrently, global wealth inequality escalates, with a minority amassing the largest concentrations of wealth. While extreme poverty draws considerable attention, less is focused on extreme wealth and its role in perpetuating global inequalities. Stephanie addresses this root issue by reshaping norms and practices within the private wealth industry itself, challenging the concept and perpetuation of wealth.  

When society leaves new parents alone and overburdened, Rose helps them cope with the chaotic challenges of parenthood in the first months. She has created a broad network of volunteers and professionals to bridge the gap between families and the welfare system.

Wellcome is a holistic support system for families that relieves, advises and networks parents so that their children can grow up healthy in a loving environment. Wellcome provides four different offers: Practical help after birth; an online platform for consultations; a special program for separated families; and a donation fund to support the most vulnerable families. In 2023, 3,500 families were supported by several thousand volunteers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A total of 208,000 Euros were donated to families in need.  

For generations LGBTQ+ seniors have been invisible and unable to safely create community. Federico is changing the mindset that has kept this system in place, by putting LGBTQ+ seniors in charge of building new opportunities for themselves to co-create and lead their best, authentic lives. 

Despite gradual legal and cultural shifts towards inclusivity, LGBTIQ+ seniors remain largely invisible, leading to a lack of supportive policies and resources. This results in a higher proportion of LGBTQ+ seniors living alone and significantly higher suicide rates. Drawing from his own experiences with age and gender diversity discrimination, Federico is creating spaces at community, private, and government levels to ensure the integration and self-identification of LGBTIQ+ seniors. He aims to align laws and public regulations with a new model of inclusive longevity, fostering a supportive environment for healthy and active aging. 

Mark Swift has created a community-based healthcare movement through Wellbeing Enterprises, empowering citizens and healthcare practitioners to address potential drivers of illness through prevention and community support. It broadens healthcare to address social determinants of illness and trains Wellbeing Officers to provide personalized support, addressing challenges ranging from bereavement, relationship conflicts, low confidence or housing issues. With a focus on prevention and community assets, Wellbeing Enterprises improves health outcomes, and fosters civic engagement. Mark's strategy includes influencing policy and scaling nationally through consultancy.

Challenging the sense of isolation that families with children with diverse abilities too often feel due to silos built by specific medical diagnoses and traditional advocacy, Jenny Lindström-Beijar has designed a new methodology to enable these families to celebrate their identities, build friendship networks, and exercise their sense of agency to model and scale a more inclusive understanding of ‘normal’ in neighborhoods and businesses across Sweden. 

Neurodiversity is a concept where neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. Thorkil is reframing our perception of neurodivergent people, focusing on the skills that they can provide to the workforce, rather than the differences. Approximately 20,000 jobs have been enabled through his foundation (Square Foundation, formerly known as Specialisterne) in twenty-six countries and hundreds of companies have been inspired or trained across the world. 

Elena is reshaping societal and self-perceptions of individuals over 55, positioning them as indispensable contributors within their communities, and igniting a movement that celebrates their vitality and participation. 

It is estimated that senior population (aged 55 or more) in the EU will increase by 30 to 50% by 2050. As this implies significant pressures in economic and health systems, Elena has identified the need to transit from a three-stage life, towards a multi-stage longevity, where seniors can find spaces for long-life contribution, connections and wellbeing. With more than 40% of individuals in the EU between 55 and 64 years old inactive due to difficulties finding employment or forced retirement, Elena enables mature citizens to offer and match their unique talents to solve their communities’ most pressing issues in partnership with municipalities and private companies.  

Energy Garden is combining community gardens with a city-wide community energy cooperative model to create a highly public, transport-based initiative to dramatically expand renewable energy in London and create a self-funding cycle towards climate mitigation. He is working on the collective imagination of a city to redesign how it powers itself and how communities have ownership over its energy. 

Transport accounts for 27% of the UK’s emissions, with Network Rail being the largest producer. London uses 11% of the UK’s energy, half for trains. At the same time, rail lines have underused land and property. Solar energy, costly to install and limited to certain property owners, is typically inaccessible to those in social housing or fuel poverty.  Agamemnon has turned this challenge into an opportunity. His organisation, Energy Garden, uses London transport infrastructure to install solar panel arrays and community gardens in a symbiotic system within the city. 

Maria makes reading a public matter. Through The Universal Reading Foundation, Maria is advancing collaborative work with key stakeholders promoting reading as a powerful, yet underutilized, mechanism for shaping the future of resilient citizens and more equal, vibrant, and peaceful democracies. 

Not reading is a powerful driver of social exclusion, while reading is essential for engaged democratic citizenship. Maria developed "The Seven Golden Rules" to promote reading and, through broad partnerships, reaches out to non-readers. In Poland, over 80% of 22,000 preschools participated in the "Superpower of Books" program. "Books Give Refuge" distributed over 200,000 Ukrainian books to 1,000 locations in Ukraine and Poland. The #ReadingRules campaign garnered 47 million views in its first month, in a country whose population is 38 million. 

A unique crossbreed between an NGO and a creative agency, WASH United promotes sanitation and menstrual hygiene across the world, especially in regions most affected by preventable diseases caused by poor sanitation and hygiene conditions. 

Thorsten has built a movement of organisations working together to create a world where no woman or girl is held back just because she menstruates. Working with +1,000 organizations and using simple, fun, easy to implement, and effective messaging, WASH United has reached more than 2 million girls with education about menstruation. The Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign with an annual reach of +700 million people is pushing back taboos and stigmas globally. 

In Belgium, as in the rest of the world, most prisoners are dealing with aggression issues - either having difficulty controlling their anger, or deepening levels of anger by being confined in a prison’s violent environment. And yet no psychological support is offered to inmates within the Belgium prisons, except for sexual offenders.

Marjan has developed the first program focusing on redirecting aggression toward solutions for all Belgian prisoners, whatever the crime they have committed. Never reducing prisoners to the crimes they have committed, she creates an opportunity for individuals to set aside their anger, and develop the tools, plans and resiliency to work towards positive goals.

Vera, an urbanist architect, leads "De-a Arhitectura," an initiative repurposing schools for civic education focused on architecture. This program educates children about the built environment, fostering empathy and civic engagement. Since 2013, it has influenced over 30,000 Romanian children and involved 1,150 teachers and 1,000 architects, promoting participatory design and community involvement. 

Vera introduces innovative education practices to equip young people for responsible adulthood and engaged citizenship. Romania's traditional education, emphasizing rote learning, has led to low functional literacy and civic engagement. Through "De-a Arhitectura in My City," volunteer architects teach 3rd and 4th graders design and urban awareness. The "My School Can Be Cool" initiative revamps school spaces through participatory design. These efforts, positively impacting over 30,000 students, have gained support from architectural bodies and municipalities, fostering empathy, creativity, and civic responsibility. 

Martin co-founded Youth Lead the Change Germany in 2022 after being inspired by the eponymous program Youth Lead the Change in Boston, USA in 2019. In this program, young citizens of Boston are being entrusted with $1,000,000 annually to implement city improvement projects. Enthused by the significant impact this initiative had on the city and its youth, Martin established YLCG to encourage similar initaitives in German cities. 

YLCG collaborates closely with municipalities to drive systemic change, ensuring that youth participation is integrated into local governance. This approach has already yielded successful outcomes in Cologne, where youth are directing €75,000 this year towards their own community-enhancing projects.

In a society, where young refugees and newcomers often feel isolated and overwhelmed, Yalla Hamburg steps in to offer support and integration. As a dedicated volunteer, Adelina, a Ukrainian refugee herself, understands firsthand the challenges of starting anew in a foreign land. Her personal experiences drive her passion to help others, ensuring that no one must face these challenges alone. 

Yalla Hamburg helps refugees discover the city, find places to learn or have fun, and join welcoming groups, even if they don't speak German well yet. Launched in 2017, this participatory youth media project engages young newcomers aged 16 to 27. They explore Hamburg, share tips on arrival spots and opportunities, and pass on their insights through digital media to other new arrivals