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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

My story of hopefulness is Simon Butler who runs an organisation called Migrate Art. They partner with some of the biggest artists working across contemporary art to raise awareness and funds for homeless and displaced people. Simon takes these juggernauts from the high art world, these almost unapproachable art world elites, and wonderfully finds a way to bridge authentically what it is he's trying to do. I also really respect the value of the work that he does in the public space. So in terms of an example in the world of someone that is doing something meaningful, doing it successfully and doing it with some of the biggest artists in the world, I'd say Simon at Migrate Art is my hopeful story.

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.