From her studio in Albuquerque, NM, Joan Weissman designs vibrant, ornate rugs that are woven by hand with wool and fine silk. With each collection and customized design, her creations go from pencil sketches to authentic bodies of work that are crafted and shipped to the United States by artisans in Nepal. Attached to each imported rug is a little label with a traceable serial number that serves as proof that Weissman’s rugs were made by the hands of skilled craftsman, not by the tiny hands of children.

Sometimes data can be a powerful agent for change.

After thirty years working in the trenches as a social worker, Caitlin Ryan, a national AIDS policy advisor and expert on lesbian, gay and bisexual health issues, says her greatest achievements have been in research. Her studies of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people and their families have the potential to save and redirect lives.

Sometimes it takes something silly to accomplish a serious goal. Lucy Martinelli is on a mission is to get Brazil's population exercising its civic muscle. Her strategy is to start with young people who make up one fifth of Brazil's population.  Her plan of action?  To invite them to play a big game.

It's not every day that a fifth grader reads and article in The Wall Street Journal and decides to take action. But Alex Lin was very surprised to learn about the environmental hazards of discarded computers and decided to do something about it, right in his own town.

Alex’s e-waste initiative in Westerly, RI puts a twist on the problem of e-waste. It is solving two problems at once, by collecting local residents’ discarded computers, refurbishing them, and giving them away to families unable to afford new electronic equipment.

Inside a brownstone in West Harlem, kids and young adults are getting into things you may not expect from a group of people their age. Instead of videogames and troublemaking, these young people are discovering their heritage, finding purpose, and building self-confidence. This sanctuary, known to the community as The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, has spent over a decade providing an extended family of support to youth as young as seven years old.