Change Agent: Judy Reed

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

For over 40 years, Phil Lane, Jr. has worked with indigenous peoples throughout the world to promote sustainable, spiritually-based economic and community development. A member of the Yankton Sioux and Chickasaw tribes, Lane’s goal is to empower Native communities throughout the world and to improve the quality of life within those communities. ...

Change Agent: Vivian McPeak

By Amy Besunder | June 13, 2007

Since 1991, Vivian McPeak has organized the country’s largest cannabis policy reform event, Seattle Hempfest. The gathering focuses on educating the public on the medicinal, agricultural, and spiritual benefits of the plant and on decriminalizing usage. “What people need to understand is that this is about human rights and equality not marijuana,” says McPeak. ...

Change Agents: Teresa Buker, Debra Cotter and Margaret Grimm

By Amy Besunder | May 23, 2007

“Furniture donation is especially critical for low income families who are forced to make difficult choices between buying food, furniture, children’s clothes, or school supplies,” explains Teresa Buker, who co-founded Family Matters, a volunteer-run furniture bank with friends Debra Cotter and Margaret Grimm. The three draw on their community to donate gently used household items as well as personal time and labor. ...

Change Agent: John Roberts

By Amy Besunder | May 9, 2007

“Most people are aware of the health problems that can be caused by outdoor air pollution, but few aware that pollution in their own homes could also have an effect on their health,” says John Roberts, one of the founders of the Master Home Environmentalist program at the American Lung Association of Washington.

Roberts designed this program in 1991, along with a team of volunteers, after a study he conducted in the late 1980s for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency indicated home air-quality levels were lower than those outdoors. ...

Change Agent: Susanna Kang

By Amy Besunder | April 11, 2007

“You don’t hear much about the dangers associated with swimming, boating, or even just playing in or near water,” says the 16-year-old high school junior. “But when you start researching it, you see that most deaths associated with drowning are easily preventable through education.” ...

Change Agent: Minh-Duc Nguyen

By Amy Besunder | February 7, 2007

After returning from an eye-opening visit to her native homeland of Vietnam, Minh-Duc Nguyen began to explore opportunities to reach out to her community locally. “I wanted to create a place where Vietnamese Americans could connect with one another and access the resources needed to succeed in their new country,” she remembers. ...