I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Amongst my many blessings, every year I get to welcome a new group of remarkable social entrepreneurs – heroes in the truest sense – into our community. It’s an incredible moment and a singular honor.
Our winners and their organizations are truly a global cohort. From Kenya to India to the United States, they’re working around the world for justice, health, education, equity, and to protect our planet. They’re all deeply immersed in the issues and communities they champion, bringing lived experience to bear on the issues that they face, and an insider perspective that helps them get to the heart of the challenge.
To say that they are amazing only begins to describe their passion and their potential. What sets them apart is their innovative spirit and unique approaches to problem-solving. I am, and you will be, astounded at what they are up to! Using technology, creativity, and old-fashioned grit, they are breaking down barriers and raising the bar across the board: from building power for native peoples and reforming the criminal justice system, to advocating for children, protecting public health, making media inclusive, supporting asylum seekers, and cleaning waterways. One of our winners is even training rats to sniff out land mines and detect tuberculosis. They are – in a word – remarkable.
I’m continuously astonished by our winners’ capacity to turn their passions into life-affirming and life-changing actions. In fact, we were so wowed by our finalists this year, that we ultimately made the choice to invest in 12 winners instead of the intended 10. They are each so deserving and completely awe-inspiring.
And while it may seem that we’re helping them, in reality, we’re the ones who are being helped, and significantly so. To know their work and to know their stories nourishes us in the most profound ways, and that is what we, at the Elevate Prize Foundation, want to share with you! Each and every one of them is changing the world for the better today and has the potential to drive even more progress on a massive scale in the future. They show us what we are capable of, both individually and as a society. They are the rockstars of social impact that you may not have heard of – yet.
I hope you’ll join us in following the journeys of these extraordinary visionaries and, in doing so, be all the more inspired to live in your purpose as they are. If you find their work and their stories half as compelling as I do, you will be forever changed, as I have been.
Please join me in welcoming and celebrating the newest Winners of The Elevate Prize!
Joseph Deitch
