Changemakers in the United States

The selection

• 350.orgWashington DC, USA“Anchoring a global movement to a single number gave the climate fight a clear line to hold.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Aaron SorkinLos Angeles, USA“Because he understood that the gap between democratic ideals and institutional reality is where drama lives, and because works like “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom” showed millions of people what genuine public-spirited argument could look like before they’d ever witnessed it in their actual institutions.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Aude OlivaCambridge, USARecommended by Katy Foraz
• Billion Oyster ProjectNew York, USA“Urban ecological restoration at scale with an exemplary educational dimension, a rare model of city/ocean reconciliation.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• BiofabricateNew York, USA“Suzanne Lee built the community that lets grown materials move from the lab into real making.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Donna HarawaySanta Cruz, USARecommended by Søren Hermansen
• Equal Justice InitiativeMontgomery, USA“Bryan Stevenson reminds me that getting close to injustice is where real change starts.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Ford FoundationNew York, USA“Aiming their giving squarely at inequality, and divesting from fossil fuels, is leadership worth naming.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Hannah ArendtNew York City, USA“Because she insisted on understanding politics as the realm of human plurality and action rather than administration, and because she never stopped asking what makes democratic life possible beyond bureaucratic processes.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Judith ShklarCambridge, MA, USA“Because she built an entire political theory around “putting cruelty first” as the foundation of liberalism, and because she showed that defending ordinary citizens from arbitrary power - whether public or private - is the core democratic project, not some secondary concern after we’ve sorted out grand constitutional principles.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• KadeyaChicago, USARecommended by Simon Bernard
• Mellon FoundationNew York, USA“Putting the arts and humanities first in their giving is a stance I find quietly brave.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• MIT Media LabBoston, MA, USA“I keep coming back to their belief that the best ideas live between disciplines.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Oceans 2050USA“Alexandra is building the data that lets ocean farmers prove and earn from the carbon they store.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• OceanWellLos Angeles, USARecommended by Simon Bernard
• Rainforest ConnectionSan Francisco, USA“Turning old phones into ears for the forest is the kind of frugal cleverness I love.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Ralph NaderWashington D.C, USA“Because he demonstrated that one person armed with rigorous research and moral clarity can reshape entire systems of power, and because he never confused access to elites with actual influence over them.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Senseable City Lab (MIT)Cambridge, USA“Carlo Ratti reads the city as a living organism, and his work helps us see ourselves inside it.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Urban TilthRichmond, California, USARecommended by Rob Hopkins
• Wildlife Conservation Fund / Hélène GrimaudNew York, USA“A great pianist giving her fame to wolves is a union of art and wildness I find moving.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• World Access for the BlindLos Angeles, USA“Daniel taught himself to see with sound and now teaches thousands, which expands what we think a person can learn.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Yellow Dot StudiosLos Angeles, USA“Using sharp humor to name greenwashing is a way to keep people awake that I enjoy.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume