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What hope is there for children of women who are addicted to drugs? Or homeless? Desperate? They get so absorbed with their misery that they don't pay much attention to the baby they are carrying. Or maybe they care but their lives are so messed up they don't know what it's like to love another human being anymore. We can only give what we have. Speaking of giving, nobody does it better than Martha Ryan, a registered nurse who founded Homeless Prenatal Program. The idea behind it is to help end the cycle of childhood poverty. To read more about Martha Ryan visit www.thextraordinary.org

For Nicholas Lowinger, having a comfy pair of shoes is as important as having just the right size of clothing. Shoes can be a source of embarrassment and can trigger bullying. A good pair of shoes can motivate a person to go out there and mingle, confident and comfortable in his/her footwear. At five years old, he gave away shoes he had outgrown. But shoes that don't fit defeat the purpose. So when he was only 10 years old, he founded Gotta Have Sole, a foundation that gives away new shoes that perfectly fit kids and teens in homeless shelters. To read more about Nicholas Lowinger visit www.thextraordinary.org

We can't argue with Hugh Herr, a double amputee, who says that he's no disable. For one, he's a professional climber. Secondly, when he walks using prosthetics he created himself, you really won't be able to tell from his gait. Hugh Herr currently directs the Biomechatronics research group at MIT Media Lab. We owe him the first intelligent prosthetics, employing bionics that make them work like real body parts. His company, iWalk, has helped veterans, amputees, and stroke victims get their life back. Envisioning a world where disability doesn't exist, it's safe to call him a visionary. To read more about Hugh Herr visit www.thextraordinary.org

Andras Forgacs is a renaissance man-he invents, helps companies take off, inspires people to be more creative. With a scientist for a father, it's not surprising how Andras ended up being a visionary. He co-founded Organovo with Gabor, his father, who acted as the lead scientist for the cutting-edge biofabrication company. They are into cultivating body parts using avant-garde technology. A few years later, Andras launched Modern Meadows. It works like a meat brewery. With the help of technology, Andras hopes to address food issues by growing meat. To read more about Andras Forgacs visit www.thextraordinary.org

Mallika Dutt was born in India, a place where women are relegated next to men in the social hierarchy. Seeing the violence around her had Mallika pursuing a career in social justice. She became a lawyer and worked for various organizations. Upon realizing that social media and the arts can profoundly influence people and move them into action, she established her own organization in 2000. Since then, Breakthrough has been "breaking" barriers and shifting paradigms towards a more liberal society. Mallika has proven that women has the power to change the world for the better. To read more about Mallika Dutt visit www.thextraordinary.org

Fawzia Koofi is the first woman to ever become the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the history of Afghanistan. The fact that she lived after being left out to die under the sun is a testament to her courage. She would have to prove that courage over and over again as she dodges threats to her life and insults thrown at her just because she is a woman. Only 39 years old in 2014, she hasn't reached the required age to run for the highest seat in the government, so she'd set out to do it 4 years later. To read more about Fawzia Koofi visit www.thextraordinary.org

An author, a freegan, an activist, a father, a concerned citizen-Tristram Stuart is all that and more. He was brought up in a thrifty household where food actually got eaten. So when he began feeding pigs and discovered how much food grocery stores and food servers throw, he was compelled to do something. He endeavored to dig deeper into the problem and by discovering how much food go to waste, he began spreading the truth about the ongoing food scandal. This led to the Feeding the 5000 initiative, The Pig Idea, and the Gleaning Network. To read more about Tristram Stuart visit www.thextraordinary.org

Ron Finley is not your typical gardener. His garden transformed the lives of the people in his barren community called South Los Angeles. Prior his initiative, for you to get fresh produce, you should brave driving 45 minutes. So to save on gas and beautify his front lawn, he planted food. Of course, he got apprehended for that. But 900 signatures got authorities off his back. Los Angeles Green Grounds was an organization inspired by his defiance to grow his own food. Ron is now quite a famous speaker but he remains to be a humble gardener. To read more about Ron Finley visit www.thextraordinary.org

Dr. Laura Stachel is the co-founder of the non-profit WE CARE Solar. Together with her husband, Hal Aronson, they launched the organization to provide sustainable lighting system in developing countries where mortality rates due to childbirth were a lot higher. The Solar Suitcase units they have distributed to 27 countries so far have saved thousands of patients, not just mothers and their babies. The solar lighting system enables clinics without electricity to still do business in the middle of the night-an inconceivable feat years before. To read more about Laura Stachel visit www.thextraordinary.org

Marlice van Vuuren is definitely not afraid of the wild. Growing up with wildlife impressed a deep love for the animals in her heart. So much is her love for them that she has lived most of her life caring for her lions, cheetahs, vultures, baboons, and hyenas. Not your usual pets? Truth is, they aren't her pets either. They are her family. She co-founded the N/a'an ku sê Foundation with her doctor husband which gave way to wildlife conservation projects and livelihood initiatives for the San community, the aborigines of Namibia. To read more about Marlice van Vuuren visit www.thextraordinary.org

Stephen Ritz is a dynamic inspiration for kids in the Bronx who used to believe there was no more hope for them. His enthusiasm is undoubtedly contagious, enabling troubled teenagers to secure a source of living with the use of the knowledge he equipped them with in and out of school. Besides restoring hope, Stephen helped the malnourished community reclaim their health by growing local produce right in his very classrooms. His non-profit organization called Green Bronx Machine harvested produce enough to feed 450 people. Now that's what you call serving the community in the truest sense of the word. To read more about Stephen Ritz visit www.thextraordinary.org.

Shigeru Ban does not call himself an environmental architect even though he has made a name in paper architecture. The Naked House at Kawagoe, Saitama prefecture, Japan; the Nomadic Museum; the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand; and the Musée d'art Moderne Georges in Pompidou, Metz, France are just some of his masterpieces. They all have one thing in common-paper. He founded the Voluntary Architects' Network (VAN), a non-governmental organization that aids in building homes for refugees and evacuees. Because of his dedication to giving back to the community, he has been dubbed "the people's architect." To read more about Shigeru Ban visit www.thextraordinary.org

What we take for granted, the women in Kakenya Ntaiya's village are denied of. A member of the Maasai community, Kakenya and her fellow women were looked down by men in their society. In a way, cultural customs discouraged a woman's success. Before they even get to high school, they are married off and get relegated to a life of service to their husband and children. But Kakenya fought her way to college, eventually becoming the first Maasai woman to achieve such feat. And because women do not forget, she founded The Kakenya Center for Excellence to give back. To read more about Kakenya Ntaiya visit www.thextraordinary.org.

Peyton Robertson began inventing at the age of eight. He's been brought up by his parents to think of solutions to problems rather than complain about them. By the time he turned 12 years old, Peyton has won first place in Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for inventing Sandless Operational Sandbag (SOS). His invention is a lot lighter than conventional sandbags, more intuitively designed to avoid seawater or floodwater from seeping in, and 100% reusable. Once totally dried after use, the SOS can just be stored for future flood emergencies. To read more about Peyton Robertson visit www.thextraordinary.org

Mackenzie Bearup may seem unfortunate for having been diagnosed to have an incurable disease known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. She, however, did not let this disability keep her from doing extraordinary things, like providing kids with distraction to help them cope with their emotional distress and physical pain. After discovering how books made her feel better despite the pain, she started a book drive that is now known as Sheltering Books. She just turned 18, so we could expect more good deeds from this lovely young lady who's in pain yet still managed to think of others. To read more about Mackenzie Bearup visit www.thextraordinary.org.

Meet the extraordinary and very well-known publisher, philanthropist and human rights activist who founded Human Rights Watch, an organization that focuses on promoting human rights throughout the world, and the more recent Advancing Human Rights, Robert Bernstein. A dedicated and passionate leader of human rights, Robert has spent his entire life promoting human rights both in closed and open societies. "Dictatorships must be brought up to the level of democracies." To read more about Robert Bernstein visit www.thextraordinary.org

Alexander McLean has so much compassion for the suffering inmates of Africa that he has dedicated most of his life to caring for them and personally making sure that their needs are well-provided for. He founded the African Prisoners Project or APP when he was only 18 years old back in 2004 after witnessing a shackled inmate in a hospital lying in his own waste. The suffering is already more than enough. Depriving them of their basic right to life is something he couldn't just look away from. To read more about Alexander McLean visit www.thextraordinary.org

Meet Brittany Wenger, a young inventor, computer programmer and scientist from Ohio who is most known for making Cloud4Cancer, an artificial intelligence software that is designed to detect breast cancer and leukemia at the least invasive and best way possible. Originally starting out as a science project after Brittany's cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer, Cloud4Cancer has now grown to becoming a future potential choice in diagnosing diseases such as this. To read more about Brittany Wenger visit www.thextraordinary.org

The human mind. The last frontier of man's journey to discover himself and the one thing that sets humans apart and makes them unique from all creatures on Earth. The mind is often referred to as a person's soul, containing the various aspects of thought, emotion and decision. And so, understanding the mind is a great necessity to help us address a lot of the problems that society is facing today, by working on ways that will help enhance the human mind, which will then result on the improvement of a person's life and thus enable him/her to become a more productive member of the community. To read more about Tan Le visit www.thextraordinary.org

Meet the extraordinary environmentalist and architect who is most famous for the "Earthship Biotecture", an architectural building design that aims to create sustainable and eco-friendly homes to reduce stress and make living more comfortable and at the same time benefiting the environment, Michael "Mike" Reynolds. "If you walk the talk, you don't have to talk that much." To read more about Mike Reynolds visit www.thextraordinary.org