Changemakers in the United States

The selection

• 350.orgWashington DC, USA“They anchored a global movement to a single number. The climate fight got 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
• Angela DavisOakland, USA“Angela Davis is undoubtedly one of the most clear-sighted pacifists of the 21st c. And, without a doubt, when it comes to the notion of incarceration, she is a figure we cannot afford to overlook.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• Aude OlivaCambridge, USARecommended by Katy Foraz
• Billion Oyster ProjectNew York, USA“Ecological restoration at the scale of a city, with schools at the heart of it. Few projects reconcile a city with its ocean like this one.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• BiofabricateNew York, USA“Suzanne Lee built the community that takes grown materials out of the lab and into actual products.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Donna HarawaySanta Cruz, USARecommended by Søren Hermansen
• Equal Justice InitiativeMontgomery, USA“Bryan Stevenson says change starts when you get close to injustice. I believe him.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Ford FoundationNew York, USA“They aimed their giving straight at inequality and pulled their money out of fossil fuels. That is leadership, and it should be named.”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
• Heman BekeleAnnandale, USA“Coming up with the beginnings of a simple, accessible solution to prevent a global problem. What a gem!”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• 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“They put the arts and the humanities first in what they fund. It takes some nerve, and I respect it.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• MIT Media LabBoston, MA, USA“Their belief that the best ideas live between disciplines. I come back to it often.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Nikole Hannah-JonesNew York, USA“Investigating, researching, and ultimately repositioning a date within the broader sweep of history can, in some cases, unsettle an entire chapter of a national narrative.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• Oceans 2050USA“Alexandra is building the data that lets ocean farmers prove how much carbon they store, and earn from it.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• OceanWellLos Angeles, USARecommended by Simon Bernard
• Rainforest ConnectionSan Francisco, USA“Old phones turned into ears for the forest. Frugal and clever, the way I like it.”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. 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 who gives her fame to wolves. Art and wildness together, and it moves me.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• World Access for the BlindLos Angeles, USA“Daniel taught himself to see with sound, and now he teaches thousands. It changes what we think a person can learn.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Yellow Dot StudiosLos Angeles, USA“They use sharp humour to call out greenwashing. It keeps people awake, and I enjoy it.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume