Angela found a bird in a garbage can while throwing out the trash, it was drenched in food oil and unable to fly. The young girl, who was only six or seven at the time, ran back inside her home wondering what to do. Her Mom who’d grown up on a farm told her daughter...
Patrick Arnold created 10 Billion Strong, a leadership development organization focused on environmental sustainability, because he believes it’s unjust that more than a billion youth as well as future generations have to find solutions for environmental catastrophes...
“When you try to help someone, I think that there are no particular inspirations, you just need a little sensitivity and humanity.” Those insightful words opened a heartfelt conversation with Luca Quaiotti, the project and educational manager for ETHIKA and...
A few years ago, Fatoumatta Kassama met a woman named Sarah who would share a story that would have such an impact, it would change the course of her life. Sarah, a retired American teacher, has been working on a project that supports girls’ education in Kenya but she...
Before the Russia-Ukraine war, Every Animal, a vegan animal rights organization in Ukraine founded by Tamara Human, was focused on vegan education and protecting animals. There was an online education course. There were vegan tours and samplings. They even wrote and...
In the summer of 2019, a small group of volunteers began to notice an important need within the refugee community in Athens, Greece. Women and LGBTQIA+ migrants and asylum seekers needed a safe space where they could engage in creative expression. In such a space, art...
Isabella Hanson received her first Pollination Project grant for her work which focused on empowering girls when she was only nine-years-old. Then in 2020, at the age of 14, Isabella once again looked to empower and amplify the voices of youth, only this time it was...
Allyson Allen is not only an exceptional quiltmaker, she’s an artist and storyteller who is using her gifts to create works that inspire reflection and, most recently, stand up to censorship. In 2019, Allyson was thrilled when she won the Laguna Beach Arts Alliance...
Imagine driving along a four lane road when you suddenly come upon a dog standing in the middle of one of the lanes. Would you stop and help? When Andrea Johnson found herself in that exact situation, it wasn’t even a question as instantaneous thought gave way to...
The Mushroom Guy. That is the name the community has given to him. It might have something to do with the jacket he wears as it has a giant mushroom on the back but more than likely, it has to do with the fact that Jake Garza has done something extraordinary - he’s...
As a young girl, AnnaLise Hoopes felt overwhelmed by all the problems in the world and continually asked herself, “What can I do with my one life to make the most impact?” The answer would arrive in college, when she learned of humane education—using education as a...
When Abdel Mandili, a filmmaker from the Netherlands, returned home after working on a project that documented the threats that Indigenous people were facing in a battle over palm oil in Indonesia, he hoped things would change. However, in speaking with community...
When two, talented women with a love of technology and entrepreneurship came together to create a program that would inspire young Nigerian women to further their education and develop entrepreneurial skills, they had no idea how many lives they would positively...
Imagine dancing upon a beautiful, wooden dance deck that lives among a lush landscape of gardens and trails on a warm summer afternoon. The sun kisses your skin as you move across the floor and through the space exploring the connection between your body and the...
Perhaps it was witnessing her mother’s commitment to environmental politics and the work she did for Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s Solar Committee in the 1970’s that inspired her. Or it might have been her own personal experience of saving a chrysalis - the hard...
The Beyond the Classroom Foundation, an incredible volunteer-driven nonprofit working to improve access to education for children and reproductive health education for girls in marginalized communities in Nigeria, was founded by Raquel Kasham Daniel. When varying time...
Gretchen Strate had always loved animals but witnessing a terrifying incident inspired a far deeper connection to them, one that would change her life forever. On her way to a wedding reception, Gretchen watched as a car in front of her intentionally ran over a flock...
Dr. Michele Haley has a beautiful and distinctive ability to make people feel seen. The way she leans in to listen with her heart and extends genuine kindness with her thoughtful words opens the door to meaningful connections that foster healing and growth. Combine...
When the Napalese Lounge and Grille in Green Bay, Wisconsin decided to install a public art mural to foster pride and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people and host a modest celebration in its honor, they had hoped it would encourage cooperation and collaboration among...
Dear Pollination Nation, As we approach the end of 2021, we’re taking a moment to pause as we look back on the work of the everyday heroes that we’ve had the honor to serve this year. Hundreds of inspiring individuals around the globe took action in making their ideas...
While working on her Masters degree in 2019, Greshma Pious Raju had an amazing opportunity to do an internship with Earth Charter International, an organization located in the middle of a forest in Costa Rica. One afternoon, Mirian Vilela, the Executive Director,...
Faith in the Unknown Inspires One Woman to Make Life More Delicious for All Faith is what it takes to follow your heart into unknown spaces hoping that you will find your way; Diane Callaway’s life is a beautiful illustration of what happens when you take that leap....
When Tracey Glover was seven, she and her Dad surprisingly stumbled upon kittens in a flower nursery. The owner told them that they were welcome to take them and offhandedly commented that if they didn’t, they’d simply be put in bags with rocks and thrown into the...
Each week, we choose a changemaker to feature whose actions and intentions are creating a kinder, more compassionate world. This week, we want to flip the script. Our changemaker of the week is you. Without our friends and global neighbors, there would be no...
At the age of seven, Jeremy Gregory wanted more than anything to save the harp seals and blue whales. With the support of his parents, he ventured around his neighborhood conducting his first fundraising efforts; however, they would not be his last. Having grown up in...
When Lydia Guo joined National Alzheimer’s Buddies (NAB) as a neuroscience student at Wellesley College, she had no idea what a profound effect it would have on her life. Working with an Alzheimer’s patient who was largely non-verbal meant that Lydia had to be...
Bridget Saffold, a registered nurse and Superhero in the fight against diabetes, is working hard to care for diabetic patients both close to home in Iowa and across the country. With her first grant from The Pollination Project, Bridget hosted the Cedar Valley Focus...
When students need to learn how to add or subtract, we teach them Math. When they need to know how to write a paper, we teach them English but what do we do when they need to learn how to love? That is the question Irene Greaves is answering with a ground-breaking...
“Set up on a street corner, at a bus stop, in a park with my Smith-Corona vintage blue typewriter, a jar of words, and some watercolor paints, I never know what to expect or who I will meet. Some approach Poetry on the Streets with trepidation; others dive right in;...
A long career in social work gave Cecelia Rich a firsthand perspective on the many issues her community was facing: homelessness, food insecurity, opioid addiction, and disconnection, just to name a few. Realizing that nourishing food is a need that connects us all,...
In the summer of 2020, Kerry Dolan, an assistant principal at a Chicago high school, received a letter addressed to the entire body of predominantly white teachers and administrators. Signed by over 100 mostly BIPOC students, the letter described their feelings of...
Jose German-Gomez is a retired corporate accountant, environmental activist, and master gardener. Even in the smallest of spaces, Jose is able to create lush, verdant green spaces that produce plump, delectable vegetables. After calculating that his own backyard...
In 2014 Amanda Cats-Baril and Anne McGuinness were working in Nepal in the humanitarian sector when they met and decided to found The WE United Project. Anne grew up in Kathmandu and returned home in 2011, the same year that Amanda moved to Nepal from New York. Both...
Allie Gadziemski is a homeschool mother of four sons, all of whom are vegan and passionate about introducing others to a compassionate lifestyle. Realizing the influence children can have on their families and friends, Allie wanted to create a special day camp...
In the United States, the ratio of high-quality, age-appropriate books in low-income communities is one for every 300 children, facilitating a learning gap between privileged and underprivileged students. Antonette Franceschi-Chavez and Marysol Perez, both educators...
After living in the United States for more than 30 years, Rosa Sabido was facing deportation. She made the difficult decision to live in sanctuary rather than leave the community and friends she loves so much. For the past four years, Rosa has lived in a church near...
While attending philosophy school in 2013, Alysson Augusto studied the countless consequences of eating animal meat and decided to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle. Today, he is fully vegan and dedicates his time to educating others on the harsh realities of...
Since 2017, Dr. Christian Andres has worked to turn two hectares of land in Busua, Ghana, into a vocational center; the culmination of a life-long dream to build something meaningful in Africa. Promoting social entrepreneurship and a circular economy model, the...
Each year, over 3.6 billion animals are killed, sheared, or plucked to supply leather, fur, wool, down, and other materials we rely on in several aspects of our lives. The consequences of these materials are dire, both on the planet and the animals they’re sourced...
The Aarey Forest, part of the Sanjay Ghandi National Park, is home to 15,000 indigenous peoples called Adivasis, as well as a rich array of flora and fauna. Existing for more than 500 years, the forest holds centuries of native knowledge. It is also the only open...
Last week’s Fashion Week in Rome featured pieces by a designer who used a nearly extinct craft to create her patterns. The designs were made with woodblock printing, a textile technique that was once at the core of Syrian culture. This collaboration was a huge feat...
Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, an ancient culture is struggling to survive. The Sapara people are one of many groups fighting to preserve their roots, and their heritage is at risk of vanishing completely. Rubén Díaz, a Quito-based artist, is not willing to sit back...
This fall, the Black Girls Dive Foundation will observe its first young woman, Skye Garrett, go off to college to pursue a career in STEM. Attending Coastal Carolina University, Garrett is the first of many young Black women the foundation plans to empower for...
Each day in Uganda, 30 million people survive without access to electricity. In rural communities especially, this reality creates dire consequences for physical health and mental wellbeing. For young children trying to learn, this obstacle makes it nearly impossible...
On Sunday, June 20, we celebrate World Refugee Day; an opportunity to honor those fighting for safer lives. Millions of forcibly displaced people face treacherous conditions daily, many of whom are stuck at the Mexico-United States border. Over the past several years,...
When mental health advocate Mercy Mkandawire was invited to discuss mental disorders on a radio show last year, she received overwhelming feedback that people wanted to know more. This hunger for information inspired Mercy to create her own show, dedicated solely to...
Our Changemakers of the week are the farmers of Unadilla Community Farm in Edmeston, New York. The Unadilla River, which runs alongside the farm, gets its name from the Oneidan word for “a meeting place.” And at its very core, Unadilla Community Farm is just that - a...
“From the highway all I can see is the road, but I know that beyond this lies camps with tents and portable boxes and people who still live in limbo, waiting to know their futures. And that’s the thing about someone who witnesses that reality: once you know, you have...
Rose is from Cameroon, has a university degree in history, and is a survivor of human trafficking. She was sold as a slave by her cousin with a promise of a teaching job in Kuwait that turned into a nightmare of human exploitation. When she finally was able to return...
Northern Ghana is a region that faces many intersecting challenges: severe poverty, illiteracy, resource scarcity, a growing population, and job loss due to deforestation, just to name a few. In the face of all these circumstances, of what value is the simple act of...
Smitha Daniel was working in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation when she found an animal she had never seen before. The adorable palm-sized ball of fur was the elusive slender loris, found only in a few places in the world. These nocturnal creatures, whose Indian...
Daniel Rubins is a musician and heartivist. He founded Hear Your Song, a non-profit organization that empowers children and teens with serious illnesses to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting. It all started with a special school experience and a...
Millions of women and girls in the world have little or no sanitary protection. Lack of affordability or access to period products, together with cultural taboos, cause extreme distress leaving women with no choice but to use unhealthy, unhygienic, and potentially...
Poli Sotomayor is a Mexican activist, social media influencer, singer, writer and member of our global family of grassroots volunteer leaders. We first met Poli and learned of her project, Polifacética, in 2017. When Tessa Graham, then our Animal Advocacy Coordinator...
My mind is PonderingMy heart is VietnameseMy soul is an ArtistMy conscience is a Healer - Ngọc-Trân Vũ Born in Vietnam, Ngọc-Trân Vũ came to the United States with her family as a political refugee and grew up in Dorchester and South Boston’s working-class...
When Rodolfo was fifteen, he began volunteering at a summer camp called Viamistad. For the first time in his life, he was surrounded by people with disabilities, beginning to make many new friends and learning about their experiences. One of these new friends was...
Active citizenship, community empowerment and volunteer experiences: how three Italian women are seeding the change and making responsible tourism bloom!The Pollination Project community is made of volunteer grassroots leaders who put their time and energy in service...
March 8th is International Women’s Day, and this week we are celebrating all our female changemakers. In the last seven years, 1,800 women and girls have joined the global community of Pollination Project changemakers. Coming from different countries and cultures,...
There are people who are born with a light inside, capable of illuminating the path of those who are lost in the labyrinth of life and cannot find a way out. Paul Talliard was one of these rare gems of humanity; a man who dedicated his life to helping those who had...
“Bree is a rooster, but he is an intelligent, feeling Being that craves love and peace, just like all of us. Most children grow up loving animals. My hope is that by meeting Bree and learning more about compassionate food systems, children can learn to reflect their...
When he was 10, Jacob Cramer lost one of his favorite people on earth: his grandfather. After the grief and pain began to subside, he thought of how many seniors just like his grandfather were isolated and alone. He decided to honor his grandfather by volunteering at...
This week, we want to use this space to amplify changemakers whose work has special relevance to Black History Month. Here are five changemakers in The Pollination Project community whose work educates, reframes, and uplifts historical Black voices. We encourage you...
Eric and Sheryl Kolb lost Sheryl’s grandmother, Olive, to Alzheimer’s in 2006. Just two years later, Sheryl’s mother Trish began having trouble remembering words and recognizing familiar objects. For the next twelve years, the family went through all the joy, pain and...
In the midst of so much chaos and confusion that descended on America’s capitol last week, it brings us hope to know that The Pollination Project’s spirit of peace and kindness was also present on that day. In 2017, Mary Liepold and Eli McCarthy received seed funding...
One day several years ago, photographer and animal activist Tamara Blazquez Haik was walking home when she came across a poisoned opossum lying dead on the sidewalk. Many people might have kept walking and not given this a second thought, but Tamara couldn’t help but...
Dorcas Apoore grew up in Northern Ghana, in a remote village so small that it isn’t even on a map. Her mother was married at a young age and never got to finish school, a cycle that Dorcas saw repeated for a great many girls in her village. Most often, this is an...
When she became pregnant at 18, Maria del Mar Jaramillo felt her dreams come crashing down around her. She spent her pregnancy full of worry, wondering if the life she had envisioned for herself would still be possible. With the loving support of her husband and...
In a shed in downtown Merced, California, there is a random refrigerator overflowing with an ever-changing bounty of persimmons, lettuce, celery, and other locally sourced whole fruits and vegetables. Everything in the fridge is free; twenty-four hours a day, anyone can visit to pick up what they might need. “The People’s Fridge” is a volunteer labor of love, organized by Erin Meyer and Steve Roussos.
Growing up, Jenna Bardroff’s best friend was a potbellied pig named Arnie. When she made the connection between what her parents were putting on her plate and her love for Arnie, she became a vegetarian at the age of five. She started college at the age of fourteen,...
Sohibjamol Rakamova is an unlikely chess champion. In her native Tajikistan, chess is a game of status and nobility. Many children are enrolled in chess training at the same time they go to nursery school, but this wasn’t the case for Sohibjamol. She grew up in the...