Theme: Community

"One person can make a difference, and everyone should try." - John F. Kennedy

108 E 89th st
New York City, New York, 10128
United States

Alex Rappaport

Co-Founder and CEO of Flocabulary, an online library of educational hip-hop songs and videos for engaging and inspiring students in grades K-12. Over 35,000 schools use Flocabulary to engage students and increase achievement across the curriculum. The company's team of artists and educators is committed not only to raising test scores, but also to fostering a love of learning in every child. He is also the creator of Big Idea Week, a free community program for grades 4-8 that teaches students about entrepreneurship, STEM and 21st-century careers by connecting them with mentors from tech, media and design companies.

Anne Williams-Isom

Anne Williams-Isom is the CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, an organization which has helped 25,000 children and families living in Harlem through innovative and effective educational programs. Ms. Williams-Isom found her calling to help improve the lives of vulnerable children and families when she was still a child herself. Growing up with a single mother in Queens, she witnessed firsthand the many challenges confronting kids in struggling communities. But it was always clear that, with the right support and opportunities—above all, education and a lot of love—all kids have the potential to do extraordinary things.

Aria Finger

Aria Finger is the CEO of Do Something (also DoSomething.org), a non-profit organization with the goal of motivating young people to take action around social changes through national campaigns and grants for projects that make an impact. Aria is one of the first ten World Economic Forum Global Shapers, is passionate about social justice, and was the youngest person named to the 2012 Crain’s New York Business list of “40 Under Forty” and featured on the cover.

Jacques Sebisaho

Jacques Sebisaho is the founder of Amani Global Works. Amani Global Works' mission is to CARE, CURE, and MAKE WHOLE by providing healthcare to the most impoverished rural areas of Africa. Regardless of tribe, religion, family name, or origin, Amani Global Works aims to increase health of a region by providing preventive and emergency care for a community in need, and then creating a template of care that can be replicated throughout the continent. Born and raised in Idjwi, a forgotten island in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the highest infant mortality rate in the world, Sebisaho's inspiring story reminds us to never forget where we came from.

Matthew Certner

Matthew Certner is the Co-founder and CEO of SNAP. Special Needs Athletic Programs (SNAP, Inc.) is a non-profit organization created to inspire youth to work together through athletics, peer mentoring activities, and educational programs. SNAP's goals are to ultimately raise awareness about the impact students can make in the lives of children with autism and other disabilities. Over the years it became apparent to families with special needs children and autism that the traditional methods of inclusion have not met the needs of these children, and it was with this in mind that our organization was founded. The focus of SNAP is to incorporate a "children teaching children" model into all aspects of our programming and create a culture of acceptance of all children.

Michael Denton

Executive Director of Camp Interactive, an organization whose mission is to inspire and equip underserved students with the skills in computing, and professionalism needed to thrive in the Internet economy and beyond. Named one of New York City’s 20 Most Significant Young Philanthropists by the New York Observer, Michael's background in managing a wide variety of web and mobile applications is essential to the execution of C/I's mission. Executive Director of Camp Interactive, an organization whose mission is to inspire and equip underserved students with the skills in computing, and professionalism needed to thrive in the Internet economy and beyond.Named one of New York City’s 20 Most Significant Young Philanthropists by the New York Observer, Michael's background in managing a wide variety of web and mobile applications is essential to the execution of C/I's mission.

Neha Gupta

Neha Gupta is the 18 year old founder of Empower Orphans, an organization devoted to elevating the well being of orphaned children and empowering them to succeed. Born in New Zealand to Indian parents, the concept of Empower Orphans was ideated by Neha Gupta in 2005, when she was only nine years old, after taking food and gifts to orphaned children in her family's Indian hometown. Assisted by teenage volunteers like herself, she has raised over $1.3 million and touched the lives of over 25,000 children worldwide. She is the youngest winner of the International Childen's Peace Prize and has won numerous other awards for her efforts.

Rebecca McDonald

Rebecca McDonald is the founder and CEO of the non-profit organization Library for All, whose mission is to provide a scalable solution to the lack of accessible books through the creation of a cloud-based digital library. In 2010 Rebecca and her husband moved to Haiti to help rebuild after the devastating earthquake. She visited schools with fewer than 30 books between hundreds of students. These books were so precious that they were kept under lock and key, rarely viewed and never taken home. She founded Library For All in March 2012 with a vision to create a digital library from the world’s collective resources that would be easily accessible to those living in poverty.

Stéphane Dujarric

Stéphane Dujarric has been the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since March 2014. Speaking to what it means to be a part of such a vital global community, Dujarric inspires and invites us all into the inner workings of the United Nations.