Kym Loren Worthy is the prosecutor of Wayne County, Michigan, home to Detroit.

Kandice Sumner thinks we've been looking at the "achievement gap" in education all wrong.

As a pioneer in critical race theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw helped open the discussion of the double bind faced by victims of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice.

Known as "Captain Organic," Ross Lovegrove embraces nature as the inspiration for his "fat-free" design. Each object he creates -- be it bottle, chair, staircase or car -- is reduced to its essential elements. His pieces offer minimal forms of maximum beauty.

Rosie King challenges stereotypes of people with autism and contextualizes the issue by asking us, “Why be normal?”

TED Senior Fellow Usman Riaz is an artist and composer.

Risa Wechsler uses computer simulations of the entire universe to explore questions about our existence on the largest scales.

As cofounder of 1Day Sooner, Sophie Rose advocates for COVID-19 challenge trial volunteers.

Matt Russo is an astrophysicist and musician who translates the rhythm and harmony of the cosmos into music and sound.

Vanessa Ruiz documents the intersection of medical illustration and contemporary art.

Victor Rios seeks to uncover how to best support the lives of young people who experience poverty, stigma and social exclusion.

Simone Ross has spent her career observing companies, individuals and ideas at the intersection of tech, the economy and society.

Massimo Russo is a senior partner emeritus at BCG and a former fellow of the BCG Henderson Institute.

Russ Altman uses machine learning to better understand adverse effects of medication.

The executive chairman of AMD, Hector Ruiz is devoted to his company's 50x15 initiative, which seeks to give 50 percent of the world's population access to the internet by 2015.

Winona Guo is a co-founder of CHOOSE and author of "Tell Me Who You Are" (Penguin Random House, June 2019). She will graduate from Harvard College in 2022.

José Luis Vilson is an educator, writer, speaker and activist for educational equity, agency and justice.

José Luis Vilson is an educator, writer, speaker and activist for educational equity, agency and justice.

Jonathan Drori commissioned the BBC's very first websites, one highlight in a long career devoted to online culture and educational media -- and understanding how we learn.

Solomon Goldstein-Rose authored the book "The 100% Solution" on what must physically be achieved to reverse global warming. He served in the Massachusetts legislature.

Priya Vulchi is a co-founder of CHOOSE and author of "Tell Me Who You Are" (Penguin Random House, June 2019). She will graduate from Princeton University in 2022.

Mary Bassett is fighting what may be the greatest stumbling block to equitable health care in the US: institutional racism.

Linguist John McWhorter thinks about language in relation to race, politics and our shared cultural history.

Rashad Robinson is President of Color Of Change, a leading racial justice organization with more than 1.4 million members.

Rose George looks deeply into topics that are unseen but fundamental, whether that's sewers or latrines or massive container ships or pirate hostages or menstrual hygiene.

Rose Goslinga isn’t your typical insurance salesperson. Through the Syngenta Foundation, her team developed insurance solutions to assist small-scale farmers in Africa, to safeguard their crops in case of droughts.

Andrés Ruzo investigates the Earth's heat and the mystery of a boiling river in the Peruvian rainforest.

With a jet-powered wing attached to his body, Yves Rossy expands the possibilities of human flight.

Kevin Roose, New York Times tech columnist and author of "Futureproof," writes about the many ways humans attempt to live alongside machines.

Dwandalyn R. Reece is Curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.