Ramzi Aburedwan, Palestine At the age of 8, Ramzi lost a friend to a stray bullet near his home in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. After years of anger and frustration, he found a new way to express himself – through music – and has since become an internationally renowned musician who is teaching thousands of Palestinian youth to play a musical instrument. Ramzi, now 25, spends much of his time, through concerts and lectures, promoting the principle that all children, regardless of their circumstances, deserve a safe place to learn and play.

Javier Alejandro López Aguilar, Mexico Alejandro, age 20, serves as a trainer for and advisor to the “Parte y Comparte” (Give and Share) program, a national service-learning initiative that works to nurture a spirit of volunteerism among Mexican high school and college students. Over the past three years, Parte y Comparte has been implemented in more than a hundred schools, reaching over 2,000 young people in seven states in Mexico.

Stella Amojong, Kenya Alarmed by rising rates of teenage pregnancy in the city of Eldoret where she lives, Stella, 29, founded the Advocates for Teenage Mothers Youth Group (ATM) in 2003. ATM works to enhance reproductive health education in schools, while advocating the importance of reproductive health education and promoting women’s rights to government officials, teachers, parents, and the public at large.

Ha Thi Lan Anh, Vietnam Lan Anh was in eighth grade when she conducted her first major radio interview. Recognizing the need for young people to have a greater voice in society, she helped launch Vietnam’s first youth-led media organization. With the support of UNICEF, she and her friends established the Young Journalists Group in 1998, and created a radio program, Children’s Aspirations, that is currently broadcast twice each week across the country. Most recently, the young journalists have learned to use video as another means of getting their message out.

John Chukwudi Bako, Nigeria In 2001, John, now 26, founded Action E3 on AIDS Nigeria to educate the nation’s citizens about the nature, effects, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. With a special focus on the three E’s – education, enlightenment, and eradication – Action E3 communicates HIV/AIDS messages on the radio; via the Internet; and through songs, dramatic performances, and folktales. To date, its efforts have reached over 20,000 students, more than a million commuters, and most recently dozens of football (soccer) captains. “We do all of this because we believe information is power,” says John, “and that when people are better informed, they know what to do.”

Sadiqa Basiri, Afghanistan Returning to her native Afghanistan after years of living as a refugee in Pakistan, Sadiqa realized that few, if any, of the girls and women living in her hometown had ever attended school. To address this critical need in a country with one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, Sadiqa, now 25, has established four schools that are teaching nearly 1,100 girls to read and write – for the first time.

Andrés Beibe & Agustín Frizzera, Argentina In 2001, during one of the worst economic and political crises in Argentina’s history, Andrés and Agustín, both now 26, founded Ágora: Educating for Democracy, a program that educates students, ages 8 to 18, about democracy and their responsibilities as citizens. To date, the program has reached more than 2,800 high school students in Buenos Aires and is currently being adapted to neighboring Uruguay.

Marbie Depayso, Philippines Change and so-called “development” often come with a price, as 23-year-old Marbie Depayso came to learn. Concerned about farmers’ growing reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the rural region where she lives, Marbie educates local villagers about the importance of sustainable, organic agriculture. A member of the Kankana-ey tribe, Marbie takes comfort in knowing that the farming practices she advocates are similar to those her people employed for generations.

Seinep Dyikanbaeva, Kyrgyzstan Born with cerebral palsy in the city of Bishkek, Seinep Dyikanbaeva soon learned that those with disabilities had few rights and even fewer resources. In partnership with her mother, who founded the Kyrgyz Association of Parents with Disabled Children, Seinep, who is 20 and mostly confined to a wheelchair, works with other disabled youth to encourage them to lead full and engaged lives, and provides their families with access to the services they need to care for their children.

Hugh Evans, Australia In 2003, Hugh, now 22, founded The Oak Tree Foundation, one of the first youth-run development aid organizations in the world. Over three years, Oak Tree has mobilized more than 3,000 young volunteers to support its efforts to provide young people in the developing world with educational opportunities. With branches in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Oak Tree has raised more than AUS$400,000. Its supporters include hundreds of individuals, as well as companies including Qantas Airways, Levi Strauss, J. Walter Thompson, and Toyota.

Harjant Gill, United States For Harjant, 23, making films is about casting a spotlight on urgent, and often overlooked, social issues. It’s also about making marginalized members of society – gays, lesbians, and other minority groups – feel less isolated and more understood. Over the past five years, Harjant has directed or produced four films and a number of videos that highlight complex gender and race issues.

Vimlendu Jha, India Outraged by the ongoing pollution of the Yamuna River, one of India’s most sacred waterways, Vimlendu began to mobilize a public campaign to clean it up. Through Swechha, the organization he founded in 2001, Vimlendu, now 25, has raised public awareness around the urgent need to improve the environment through volunteer clean-ups, protests, street theater, and educational river trips. His efforts have led to a number of improvements in government policy. With an eye toward getting people actively engaged in the issue, Vimlendu has developed a school curriculum and enlisted a growing number of young people to lead change in their communities.

Tang Kun, China Now 23, Tang was just beginning his medical studies at Peking University when he took action to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people in China. Through the Peer Education Programme, which he founded in 2002, more than 50 youth have been trained as peer educators, whose efforts have reached over 2,200 high school and university students. “Most students evaluate success by their marks,” says Tang. “I think it’s just as important to really do something.”

Jessica Lax & Jocelyn Land-Murphy, Canada After a life-changing trip to Kenya in 2002, Jessica and Jocelyn, then 22-year-old college students, founded The Otesha Project, with the aim of reversing North America’s unsustainable consumptive practices. Through school visits, bike tours, theatrical performances, multimedia presentations, and other creative strategies, Otesha empowers high school and college students to take action, particularly regarding their own consumer habits. To date, Otesha has educated more than 30,000 high school students about simple actions they can take to protect the planet’s resources and ensure a more equitable, long-term future for its inhabitants.

Mohammed Mamdani, United Kingdom Now 22, Mohammed was 18 when he founded the Muslim Youth Helpline, a free, confidential telephone counseling service offering support to young Muslims in the United Kingdom. Through this trained peer support network, Muslim youth receive counseling in dealing with a host of issues ranging from sexuality and substance use to discrimination and isolation.

Muhamed Mešić, Bosnia and Herzegovina Muhamed was 8 when war broke out in the former Yugoslavia and the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence. For three years, his hometown of Tuzla lay under siege. Driven by a dream of a better Bosnia, Muhamed, now 20, serves as the youngest-ever city councilor in Tuzla, a position to which he was elected in 2004. Asked why he’s chosen to engage in politics at such a young age, Muhamed responds, “We’re raising our hand to the enemies of the future.” Among those enemies he identifies are poverty, hatred, violence, and ethnic intolerance.

Jyoti Mohapatra, India Growing up in a rural village in India, Jyoti knew firsthand the barriers facing girls and women seeking to have a greater voice in their own lives and in society. At the age of 19, she helped to organize what would become a growing network of girls’ groups, called Meena Clubs, aimed at empowering girls as leaders and problem solvers in their communities. Today, at 25, Jyoti has helped establish more than 300 Meena Clubs in the Indian state of Orissa, with more than 11,000 girls volunteering in their communities in such areas as health, nutrition, family welfare, and primary education.

Maria D’Ovidio, Argentina As a university student in Buenos Aires, Maria grew frustrated at economics courses that failed to explore the root causes of the poverty and lack of opportunity she saw around her every day. Inspired by the work of Mohammed Yunus (founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh), in 2002 Maria, then 25, launched Intepay, a nonprofit organization that provides low-income families with micro-enterprise loans and technical assistance aimed at helping them climb out of poverty.

Julia Parshina, Russia In the fall of 2003, Julia Parshina, a 19-year-old college student, saw a TV program describing the lives of children who were growing up physically and mentally disabled as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. “The stories about their lives touched my heart, and I decided my friends and I should help them somehow and change their lives for the better,” recalls Julia. Soon afterward, she started a summer camp to provide such children with recreational and artistic activities – and emotional support. Says Julia, “To make positive changes, you don’t have to do a great many things. At the beginning, it’s enough to unglue your body from the sofa that stands in front of the TV and look around.”

Rotterdam-Kralingen Group of Free The Children, Netherlands The Rotterdam-Kralingen Group of Free The Children comprises seven members, ages 6 to 12. It is part of the Free The Children global network founded in 1995 by Canadian Craig Kielburger to combat child labor worldwide. Over the past three years, the Rotterdam-Kralingen Group has raised awareness of issues affecting children by addressing audiences at their school, local churches, business dinners, and community events. Through a variety of creative fundraising strategies, the team raised €7,000, which was used to build a classroom in the Masai Mara region of Kenya.

Kritaya Sreesunpagit, Thailand Even as a high school student, Kritaya knew she wanted to lead social change, but like so many of her peers in Bangkok, she didn’t know where to start. Recognizing the need to provide other young people with creative and fun ways to develop their own volunteer projects, she founded an organization that provides the skills, training, and seed funds for Thai youth to become social entrepreneurs. Kritaya, 26, has already provided funds to support 17 youth-led volunteer projects around Thailand through her Youth Innovation Marketplace initiative.

Jennifer Staple, United States Jennifer, 25, was a college freshman when she learned from her summer job at an eye clinic that many people who are blind could have saved their sight if they had early access to information or proper eye care services. That knowledge drove Jennifer to launch Unite for Sight, now a global program that has recruited more than 4,000 volunteers – including students, doctors, and public health workers – to provide eye care services and educational programs to disadvantaged people in 25 countries.

Erion Veliaj , Albania Frustrated with political corruption and citizen apathy in Albania, Erion and two friends launched the MJAFT! (ENOUGH!) campaign in 2002. Employing a variety of creative strategies, MJAFT! has been credited with the ouster of unpopular public figures, as well as increases in the national education budget, among other accomplishments. Not only do youth activists in Zimbabwe and Iraq seek to learn from its approach, but prominent universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, and New York University, have invited MJAFT! representatives to share their experiences in promoting democratic reform with student audiences. Says Erion, now 25, “For completely selfish reasons people should be involved in activism. It just makes you feel good.”