Our generation is the first in history with enough resources to eradicate hunger worldwide. Josette Sheeran, the former head of the UN World Food Programme, shares a plan.

Peter Donnelly is an expert in probability theory who applies statistical methods to genetic data -- spurring advances in disease treatment and insight on our evolution. He's also an expert on DNA analysis, and an advocate for sensible statistical analysis in the courtroom.

Rebecca Henderson is obsessed with finding solutions to climate change.

TED Fellow Kiana Hayeri is a visual storyteller.

Mandë Holford investigates the power of venom to transform organisms (and lives) when it is adapted to create new therapeutics that treat human diseases and disorders.

Michael Tubbs became the youngest mayor in the history of the US to represent a city with a population of more than 100,000 residents.

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

Through the Global Citizen platform, humanitarian Hugh Evans has created an online community of millions of people -- all driven to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2030.

France Villarta, a communications consultant for Wells Fargo, is passionate about exploring the intersectionality of gender, politics and culture.

Timothy Snyder helps us forecast the future by understanding the past.

Danielle N. Lee examines the ecology and natural history of nuisance rodents, using hip-hop to share science with broader audiences.

With scholarship and incisive commentary that exposes the marginalized narratives hidden within "mainstream" history, Brittney Cooper writes at the vanguard of cultural criticism.

Kate Bowler is reexamining her perspective on the "prosperity gospel": the belief that good things happen to good people.

With his show 99% Invisible, Roman Mars discovered new ways to jolt public radio out of its old paradigms, while at the same time spinning riveting tales of design.

Vik Muniz delights in subverting a viewer's expectations. He uses unexpected materials to create portraits, landscapes and still lifes, which he then photographs.

Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to identity, history and popular culture.

Robert Waldinger is the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history.

The author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," the story of the Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who uses narrative history to bring to light our shared humanity.

Drawing on a rich cultural and personal history, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò studies philosophy of law, social and political philosophy, Marxism, and African and Africana philosophy.

Caroline Weaver owns CW Pencil Enterprise, a wood-cased pencil specialty shop in New York City.

Joi Ito is the former director of the MIT Media Lab.

Peggy Shepard works to ensure the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment extends to all.

Canku One Star promotes living a healthier lifestyle via song and dance.

Mike O'Sullivan postulates that the 30-year era of globalization is now over and that we are entering a new, uncertain -- but increasingly values-driven -- world order.

Eric Hirshberg leads Activision, one of the world's largest interactive entertainment companies.

From wedding invitations to Utopian newspapers, Kelli Anderson re-designs commonplace objects to go beyond their ordinary functions and create surprising experiences.

The most decorated track and field Olympian in history, Allyson Felix is now taking her talents to the business world.

Farish Ahmad-Noor believes that we can never truly escape history but we need not be victims of it either.

When he’s not ferreting out the links between stem cells and malignant blood disease, Siddhartha Mukherjee writes and lectures on the history (and future) of medicine.

JK Rowling penned the bestselling Harry Potter page-turners -- a spellbinding, seven-installment fantasy of wizards, warlocks and decidedly British texture that brought her from rags to riches.