Joshua Wong

Joshua Wong became an activist at age 14 to protest against the Chinese government’s encroachment of freedom in his native Hong Kong. In 2012, Joshua rallied over 100,000 pro-democracy supporters, and two years later, he led the historic Umbrella Revolution, for which he was arrested and imprisoned.

Rana Husseini

Rana Husseini is a Jordanian  journalist who has exposed honor crimes and campaigned for stronger legal penalties against perpetrators. She has worked to empower women’s rights groups in the Middle East, while helping to establish a landmark 2007 ruling in Jordan recognizing that honor killings are against religious law.

Pope Francis

In 2015, Pope Francis released an official papal communication strongly criticizing the world’s governments for their lack of response to climate change. He continues to call on international leaders and citizens to actively help preserve our planet rather than let the burden fall on later generations.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama at age 2. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Dalai Lama traveled internationally to build awareness of the plight of Tibet and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 in recognition of his efforts.

Gábor Gombos

Gábor Gombos was born in Hungary to a mother who battled severe depression. Between 1977 and 1990, Gombos himself was confined to psychiatric wards four times. He emerged determined to overhaul psychiatric care. In 1993, Gombos helped found the first organization focused on Hungarian mental health issues.

Loune Viaud

Loune Viaud received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2002 for her work to provide health care to poor communities in Haiti. Recently, she helped secure a $67 million grant to Haiti and the AIDS treatment program of Zanmi Lasante, making it the largest AIDS treatment program in the world.

Ka Hsaw Wa

Ka Hsaw Wa is a Burmese human rights activist and co-founder of Earth Rights International. Despite being captured and tortured, he worked tirelessly to document and expose human rights abuses by the oil company Unocal, holding them accountable for their actions against the Burmese people.

Sonita Alizadeh

Sonita Alizadeh is an Afghan rapper whose family tried to sell her into marriage when she was 10 and again at 16. After escaping to the U.S., she continues to use her music and her story to speak out for girls’ rights and bring about global awareness of child marriage as a human rights violation.

Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman has dedicated her life to fighting to protect children from abuse, neglect, poverty, and homelessness and to ensure that children have access to quality education. She founded the Children’s Defense Fund in 1973 and continues to be a leading voice in civil-rights activism.

Ka Hsaw Wa

Sonita Alizadeh

Marian Wright Edelman