My story of hopefulness is the former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari. I lived in Finland for seven years and I feel I do have a good grasp of what many Finnish people are like, and I've met a lot of people who do things quietly, and yet initiate enormous change. Quietly, Martti Ahtisaari was one of those people. His organisation has been at the heart of peace deals in some of the most challenging of situations. What he was known for and what I love is that he was a good listener which is obviously the key for any peacebuilder, to be able to listen quietly and bring people together. He died in October 2023 aged 87 but is my hopeful story because of his humility and his passion for people.

My story of hope is around biotechnology which I think is going to transform the world. Countless individuals and businesses are learning ways to hack biology in all kinds of different ways to produce the things we need. What we see is a combination of information technology and bio technologies coming together in such a way to not just decode nature, but actually begin to design all kinds of things, particularly food and materials. It's going to solve all kinds of problems as we learn to produce food and materials from a single molecule, a single cell with almost perfect efficiency which will lead to lower cost food and materials, but also a vastly lower cost to our planet. This whole space is one that just holds endless fascination for me and there are so many different businesses operating in this space which is hopeful.

I see the hope that comes from people's lives lifted out of poverty, out of hopelessness. One of the brands I most admire is Tony's Chocolonely who deliver the most amazing chocolate, but they also help take people out of slavery, and relentlessly pursue a clean supply chain all the way through. So that's my definition of hope.

My story of hopefulness, is about the Al-ayn Foundation, which was started in Iraq in 2006. They really engage and capture the imagination through creating toy shops for children who have particularly been affected by war, They ask people to donate, brand new toys, or possibly very good condition toys. and then children go into these toy shops and choose a toy, without having to pay for it. But one of the things that I love about Al-ayn is that they think from a trauma informed perspective working with people who are forgotten by society, and who are often vulnerable. They also try and give the best in medical care whilst again retaining dignity and pride.

I've been so inspired by a charity called Women for Women International. I love what they do because as a news person who has spent a lot of time in war zones, you know that the war is not going to be in the hearts and minds in the long term. People don't know what's happening five or ten years later but It takes generations to rebuild a country after a war, and I love this organisation because of the way they help women to rebuild their lives. They find and train the women that have the least, the widows, those who are really struggling, and literally help rebuild a nation through the lives of these women. It's long term, hard work and it's been life changing for me to hear the stories of the women they work with.

There's a lot of incredible positive things happening, and the one that I would like to focus on is the community called Gish which was set up by the actor Misha Collins, It's the world's largest online scavenger hunt that happens every year. I became their change a life Ambassador which essentially means I share a story of an individual community that I have documented in the previous 12 months, and together we raise funds to try and have a direct and positive impact on that community. We've been doing it for years now and we've managed to save a dance school in South Africa, support Syrian refugees in Lebanon, fund the mining projects in Lao, and this year we were able to support a children's ward of the emergency hospital in Kabul. This is such a thing of hopefulness because of the community that comes together to do this, individuals spread across the world who come together to make a huge difference. So, whilst most of the donations are between 5, 10 or maybe 20 dollars, when 1000s of people come together to create change, as a community, we're able to have a huge impact. So we have raised over $250,000 for that hospital in Afghanistan and it's not just the money raised but you see the sense of solidarity, you see the way the community comes together and to see in young people a real belief that there is a better way.

Steve has gone to coral reefs around the world that are struggling, dying out and what he and his team have been experimenting with is recording sounds of healthy coral reefs, and then playing them in the water back to unhealthy coral reefs then seeing what happens. Incredibly many unhealthy coral reefs are literally thriving with life again, they're coming back to life just from the sound of healthy coral reefs. And so the next step is gathering all the sounds across the world of healthy underwater soundscapes and then mashing them all together to almost create a world that's not real but sounds healthy. He's travelling around the great barrier reefs and trying to see what brings them back to life. The tech is so simple. It's a little underwater microphone that's very affordable. It's being played back through an underwater speaker that they use for synchronised swimming so it's all very accessible gear and I'm thinking this is something in theory people could do themselves in their own areas. But not only that, it's giving people the opportunity to hear fish, I've never heard fish before until now. Steve's very up for working with everybody and anybody because his pure goal is for the benefit of nature and bringing it back to where it was before we started interfering. And I think if you're willing to put all of that on the line, all of your ego aside to to help the world. I just think that's an incredible project.

Blue Ventures are doing a remarkable work supporting coastal communities around the world, helping to restore ocean life and creating sustainable fishing. There are 300 million people worldwide who live in communities who are totally dependent on small scale fisheries for their life and livelihoods. Blue Ventures have been developing their work for over 20 years supporting communities working from Madagascar to Indonesia and they are taking a real systems based approach. A big focus is addressing net zero with mangrove development that can sequester 10 times the amount of carbon than a rainforest. This work is so hopeful.

I think hands down it's Gitcoin, a Web3 institution that has led the charge in normalising and celebrating the process of creating and funding public goods in the most people powered way possible. So they started off by funding open source software and they have funded 10s of millions of dollars for open source software. I hope this is extended to fund projects that are related to journalism and advocacy, and regenerating the environment. Gitcoin is not a silver bullet to regenerating the world. But it has inspired me and inspired things.

Anna Yona who is the co-founder of Wildling Shoes, a business making the healthiest and most sustainable shoes on the planet.

I think about my meeting with Albert Woodfox who is on the album. He is a black panther who was incarcerated for 43 years in a six by three feet cell for a crime that he didn't commit for 23 hours a day. The thing that struck me most about asking him about the cost of freedom, was that he views freedom as a construct within your own mind. So whether you're sat like Tim Peake, looking down at the world or held in solitary confinement, Albert's argument is that freedom is available to everyone because freedom exists in your mind. I think that in these days of political and financial insecurity it's really interesting and hopeful to take away that thought from someone that has really lived on the extreme end of life, that you can actually be free in your mind.

My story of helpfulness is about the French brand called hopaal located in the French Basque Country. I really love their devotion and commitments to creating simple durable products with the least impact on the planet using recycled materials, clean energy and local production. For sure it's still a small company but they are already doing great things. Most important is that they have a clear vision for the textile industry, the textile consumption which is about consuming less and better at the same time.

So my hopeful story is someone called Ibre who lives in a community called Bradford marches in Bradford where there was a very underused Park that had been the centre of quite a lot of violence. Ibre was diagnosed with cancer and basically had quite a bit of time on his hands so whilst he was in recovery, he decided to take on this little park as his mission without any permission from the council on the basis that no one cared for the land. One of the first things he did was to buy a chicken coop as something to engage young children but also the older people in the community who now come and feed the chickens. So there's this chicken coop and then he developed this park into a kind of peacock farm. So they're now breeding peacocks roaming around.

Phil and Wendy Wall started a charity called we see hope just over 20 years ago. It started in South Africa and there was one child in particular who caught their attention who they really wanted to adopt but were unable to so. In classic Phil and Wendy style what they did was rather than adopt the one child, they decided to adopt financially as many as they could. They weren't people of wealth but took their entire life savings and gave it away in ten pound notes to complete strangers. In large gatherings, they would give away a 10 pound note to each person and say please make it into 100 pounds and send it back to us. In doing so they raised millions for these children and today we see hope looks after orphans and vulnerable children across Sub Saharan Africa.

So my story of hopefulness is a wonderful man Salomon Rettig who is a holocaust survivor born in 1923 in Berlin. At the age of 10, his mother couldn't care for him anymore so he was sent to an orphanage. He escaped the orphanage aged 13 and ended up in Palestine where he lived in a kibbutz for ten years. He eventually was able to make his way to the US where he felt for the first time that he was held and safe in a place where he could thrive. He told me the story of his wife asking him, what you want to do with your life and he had never thought about this question his whole life. She inspired him to go to university as he was really interested in social psychology. Eventually he got his PhD and he shared how that was one of the most joyful moments in his life, to become respected and to see the worth that he could bring into the world. it's a beautiful story of trauma but also human resilience and what's possible when someone is nurtured and loved and cared for.

When I think about a story of hopefulness I think about what hits close to home. And so any organisation or individual or group who is elevating marginalised voices and individuals have a lot of my respect. One local nonprofit that's doing this is strategy arts here in Philadelphia who reach out to businesses and try to work with them to engage in hiring inclusively and working within the community in order to find job placements and opportunities for individuals who typically might get overlooked.

My hopeful story is about Rebecca Lolosoli who is in Samburu, Kenya. She is the female chief of the Umoja women's tribe, which is a sub sect of the Maasai Mara. And what's amazing is that she's been the chief of this tribe since 1990 which is such a long time ago especially when the Maasai Mara are famously patriarchal, and famously male dominating as a culture. Umoja is a safe haven for women, specifically women that are either being given up to child marriage or women that are abused or in situations of domestic violence. It acts almost as a women's shelter but it is its own village, protected and run by women who are the financial providers of this village. The reason this village is so inspiring to me is because just to set it up, took an insane amount of courage and strategic thinking in a place that's very difficult for that courage to be justified. But they were successful. Through Umoja, women have been able to formalise themselves and get themselves recognised by entities like the United Nations or other foreign nonprofits, and receive enough donations to build a well so that they don't have to be nomadic which puts them at risk down the line. So they now have a well, they're in the same location, which means that donors can find them or supporters can come visit them and I was lucky enough to be one of those people and for me, it's a story that is continuously inspiring.

There are many people that I have met during my fieldwork but the one that I would like to explore here is a cooperative that focuses on rewilding called Snowchange. They have worked in their community in the east of Finland for more than 10 years now to enhance the environment across the area where people live. One of the problems has been that the swamps have been turned into forests, which has disturbed the water flow and with heavy agriculture, the lakes and the rivers have become too fertile, fish are starting to die and other fishes are becoming too popular. Their work to enhance the environment is a very inspiring one.

A few years ago Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo and her co founder started fourth phase, which is a brand that supports women after they give birth. As a mother to a five year old, I had no idea how rocky the road would be and how little anyone speaks of the fourth phase, which is when the baby comes. The best part about fourth phase is its community where you can connect with other mothers and learn how they're healing and how they are adjusting to things like breastfeeding, which was a challenge for me. I just really love what they've built. It's so thoughtful, it's so helpful, and I make sure that I gift a fourth phase box to anyone I know that has just given birth.

My story of hope is born over human connection. We had a young lad who worked with us who was kicked out of school at 15 without any qualifications, came to work for us and did a fantastic job and got a chance to go on the inaugural Michael Johnson Global Leadership Programme which led to him becoming an ambassador for a global organisation called Coaches across continents. At the same time I was connected to a woman called Dr Shukla Balls in India, who runs a foundation called the Parikrma foundation which is an incredible project set up to provide education for kids who live in the slums. Fast forward a couple of years, and we're able to connect, Jimmy to Shukla and now Jimmy spends time at Parikrma, teaching and training some of the teachers how to use sport to educate kids. All this purely through the power of human connection.

My story of hopefulness is what I witnessed in response to fires that came through our communities and devastated our region that resulted in 3,000 people being displaced. I put out a call on Facebook for people to join me in biking in water and supplies to the neighbouring town where access was shut off for vehicles. In that town disabled and elderly folk were stuck in homes without water, electricity and even news. Some of them didn't have any mobile phone or access to information from the outside world. Incredibly in the wake of these fires seven people joined me and we biked in water and supplies to this neighbourhood where we found individuals who were in real need and hadn't seen anyone for a couple of days. I put the call out for more people to join us the following day and remarkably over 100 people in my small town showed up with their bikes. We ended up going to 3000 homes and what was amazing was to see the way that people organised so organically, so willingly and have continued to volunteer with this bike brigade and volunteering initiatives since. After the fire was a commitment to build back better, because the people who were most affected were largely Latino families on the i-five corridor who were living in mobile home parks where the fire roared through. Many of these people couldn't get insurance because of US legislation around mobile home parks which inspired a committed group of people to come together to ensure that the future of the town is filled with these people owning their homes. Not only that, it was decided that the land be put into trust, so that we we stop the extractive behaviour that was happening before. As a result of the fires we actually emerged with a more equitable, just and sustainable outcome.

My story is the charity ocean cleanup who are developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. They have a crazy idea to tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is hundreds of miles across and they are also sending their interceptors to all kinds of places around the world. The results especially on local communities, is quite extraordinary.

So my story of hopefulness are the the early educators, our art teachers and music teachers specifically here in the States. The funding for our art programmes and music programmes have fallen by the wayside in recent years and my sister who is an art teacher like so many in the profession does so much work in preparation, whether it be over the summer vacation or on days off, spending her own money on materials and coming up with curriculum to teach our youth. It's super important that we we find ways to fund and support the arts for young people. The ability to inspire and extract that kind of talent from young children or the ability to help them view the world in a different way through arts and music is vital.

my story of hope are the entrepreneurs who have a vision and a passion for making a difference. As a recovering entrepreneur myself I have deep empathy for entrepreneurs who are trying to have an impact as well as build a new business. There is a charity called the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which was set up to support young entrepreneurs across 50 countries in the Commonwealth through funding, skills, and the creation of a network. By creating this community, and allowing the exchange of ideas, stories and resources, I feel really optimistic that we will see the next generation of businesses grow and take shape which will give a chance for other young people to participate and hopefully go on to become large companies in their own right. I'm a big believer in business as a force for good and I think the Queen's Commonwealth trust is is an organisation which enables that.

my story of hopefulness is found in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. Abdul Kassim initially ran a football team of girls and he said he came back after one summer break, and he had lost his entire striking force to teen pregnancy and realised that as much as he was trying to support the chances for girls in this environment, that education was the only thing that was really going to address that. So he set up a very simple classroom and ran around asking anyone who had any kind of teaching experience or skills to come and work in the school for free, which they did. And when I first met him he had around 25 girls in the school and didn't really have any great academic objectives, it was really just to try and keep the girls safe. Abdul had himself grown up in the slum but he was quite an affluent slum dweller in relative terms in that he was educated and worked for Kenya telecom so he had the resources to be able to leave the slum, but decided that he wanted to invest back into his community as much as he could. The school now has over 200 students and they are building their first boarding house.