2019 WINNERS

Charlie and Jeremy, ages 15 and 14, of Oregon, who co-founded Affected Generation, a youth-led non-profit working to fight climate change and to help implement effective climate policy, including Oregon’s Clean Energy Jobs bill.

Emma, age 17, of Florida, who co-founded back2earth, a non-profit that reduces the amount of food waste in landfills by providing a free, weekly household composting service to more than 100 families in Miami.

Garyk, age 18, of Maryland, who has worked for five years to develop better life-saving relief food for starving children in developing countries. He is teaming with an NGO to begin producing his food in Malawi.

Grace, age 14, of Maryland, who founded We Cancerve, a non-profit that creates ways for youth to help other children who are homeless, sick, and in foster care. A cancer survivor, Grace has donated more than $65,000 in grants and products to children’s agencies, and has created a free month-long summer day camp for kids.

Jamie, age 17, of Washington, who founded Zero Hour, a non-profit international youth climate justice movement. Her 2018 Youth Climate March brought hundreds of youth to Washington, D.C. and inspired 25 sister marches around the world.

Joseph, age 18, of Illinois, who founded Kids for the Boundary Waters to lead young people in protecting the Boundary Waters from sulfide-ore copper mines proposed along the wilderness edge that would cause irreparable damage.

Katherine and Milan, ages 17 and 16, of California, who co-founded Open Sesame Coding for Kids and have taught computer coding skills to more than 100 children living in homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Maanasa, age 16, of Ohio, who invented HARVEST, an inexpensive and globally applicable renewable energy device. It is made primarily of recycled materials costing less than $5.00 and can power a 15-watt LED bulb.

Neil, age 16, of Pennsylvania, who has created an app called PlantumAI to help farmers in developing countries easily identify and treat crop disease, allowing them to maximize yields and reduce their need for toxic pesticides.

Pearl and Addy, age 16, of Michigan, who created Meating the Need for Our Village to provide high-quality, youth-raised food to low-income families. With the help of nearly 20 peers, they have raised and donated 10,000 pounds of meat, along with huge quantities of milk and eggs, to their local food pantry.

Ruby Kate, age 11, of Arkansas, who founded Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents to support the elderly living in nursing homes. She asks residents what they wish for and then fills their requests, returning with basics like shoes that fit, toothpaste, and fresh fruit.

Will and Matthew, ages 14 and 11, of Massachusetts, who co-founded the Blue Feet Foundation to help save the Blue-Footed Booby. The brothers have sold over 10,000 pairs of bright blue socks to raise more than $80,000 to fund research to study the bird’s decline in the Galapagos Islands.

2019 HONOREES

Kate, age 9, of Texas, who wrote a book titled Let’s Go On Safari! to tell her generation that advocacy has no age limit and that kids can help save animals from extinction. Royalties from her book support the Jane Goodall Institute, The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and Global Wildlife Conservation.

Kylee, age 17, of Massachusetts, who founded Kylee’s Kare Kits for Kidz, a non-profit that each weekend provides kits of non-perishables to nearly 500 food-insecure children in her town and four neighboring ones.

Liam, age 12, of Massachusetts, who founded Liam’s Lunches of Love to feed people who are experiencing homelessness. In the past three years, he has hand-delivered nearly 3,000 lunches to people living on the streets in his hometown.

Melissa, age 17, of Texas, who founded 1000 Books For, a non-profit that provides educational and entrepreneurship materials — including thousands of books — to students and teachers in underdeveloped areas of the world including Mongolia, India, and Nigeria.

Olivia, age 14, of Colorado, who founded the LivLyme Foundation to provide funding for Lyme disease treatment and research. She has raised more than $1,000,000 in the past three years, allowing her to support cutting-edge research and to help 31 children and their families pay for Lyme medication and doctors’ visits.

Rosie, age 8, of Illinois, who founded Coming Up Rosies, a non-profit that creates head scarves and capes out of original artwork for children who are bald. She has donated more than 1,000 Smile Kits full of art supplies and a customizable scarf to kids at 15 children’s hospitals and treatment centers.

Ryan, age 18, of Connecticut, who founded A World of Kindness and has spoken to more than 4,000 people about growing up with a facial difference and complex medical history. He has also raised over $50,000 for Heifer International as a way to pay forward and spread the kindness he has experienced.

Taegen, age 16, of Vermont, who has created five documentary films to raise awareness about endangered species and the impact of decreasing biodiversity. Her films have been shown around the world, earning her annual invitations to speak at the National Geographic Society and the United Nations.

Tatum, age 18, of Indiana, who founded the Tatum Parker Project to make a positive impact on the lives of pediatric cancer patients. She has delivered nearly 4,000 bags filled with activities and games to every child diagnosed with cancer in Indiana and has raised more than $50,000 to fund pediatric cancer research.