The Changemakers community has big ideas for supporting positive rural development around the globe. From farming “affinity groups” in India to technologically connected health care providers in remote corners of the United States, solutions abound. See some of the best initiatives here

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The global financial crisis is opening eyes to creative ways to bank with the world's poorest borrowers, a move that could actually help struggling financial institutions generate more profit in difficult times.

While traditional investment markets freeze up or melt away, microfinance institutions (MFIs) that make small loans to poor people are now being appreciated as - ironically - a relatively safe investment in a potentially huge and largely untapped market. 

Much has been made of the Internet revolution, but the genius of communicating ideas across borders does not necessarily require cutting edge technology. In fact, for many people, there's one good old-fashioned technology that has a greater power for change: radio.

Wynona Ward drives her Ford Explorer, an "office on wheels," for thousands of miles over Vermont back roads each year, to reach even the most geographically isolated families suffering from domestic abuse.