When most kids were setting up lemonade stands in the neighborhood to earn money, Josh Tanenbaum saw a crowded marketplace and decided to sell his teddy bear and videotape collection on the street corner instead. Close to two decades later, his strong entrepreneurial spirit combined and unwavering passion for making the world a better place led him to establish Clearstone Enterprises, founded in 2016.

“For me, social change was integral to my being. It just took me a while to find out my niche,” Tanenbaum explains. “Clearstone is at the intersection of finance and social change, which is exactly where I want to be. ”

The platform invests in early-stage start-ups that narrow societal inequality gaps through educational technology, financial technology and mobility solutions.

You can tell a lot about actress, singer-songwriter, Mia Maestro, from her Twitter account. Instead of posting selfies, the Argentinian artist prefers to tweet about things that matter to her-her posts offer insights into topics ranging from environmental conservation to social activism. Off social media, Maestro is actively committed to being a “global citizen” and approaches everything she does with passion, creativity and conviction.

“Through acting I am constantly being exposed to new cultures and communities. I’m inspired by the people I meet,” says Maestro from her home in Los Angeles.

Although she has graced the covers of Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar, she is best known for her on-screen work. A versatile actress, she made her screen debut in Tango a 1998 Golden Globe- and Academy Award-nominated Spanish film directed by Carlo Saura. She gained attention for her role as Chichina Ferreyra in the biopic The Motorcycle Diaries opposite Gael Garcia Bernal.  From there she was able to take on more intriguing roles, such as Christina Kahlo (sister of iconic artist Frida Kahlo) in Julie Taymore’s Frida, Dolores in Oliver Stone’s Savages and Carmen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking   Dawn Part 1 and Part 2.

“It’s in my DNA,” confesses New York developer, Lela Goren, referring to a strong work ethic which drives her to be a ‘fearless warrior’ in both her personal and professional lives.

Goren, the founder of New York-based a real estate development company the Lela Goren Group, undertakes large-scale development projects that are meaningful to her- often breathing new life into once forgotten buildings and transforming them into magical spaces.

Her eclectic career path is astounding – a distinguished developer for over 15 years, (she is the recipient of the 2016 Women Builders Council Developer of the Year Award) Goren is also an intellectual property lawyer with a master’s degree in international law. Before attending law school, she played professional basketball for the University of Jerusalem.

Eleven-year-old, Connor Berryhill, a native of San Diego, California, is determined to save the world’s oceans, one beach cleanup at a time. He is the founder of the MicroActivist Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to “connecting youth with the world’s oceans” and bringing awareness to issues surrounding ocean conservation. To date, Berryhill’s foundation has collected over 19,000 pounds of trash from the Pacific. An avid scuba diver, a lover of all ocean animals, “I feel happiest when I’m at the bottom of the ocean,” he says.

Berryhill’s mission to clean the world’s oceans was ignited more than five years ago on a trip visiting family in Kauai. He was only five years old when he had a serendipitous face-to-face encounter with a Hawaiian monk seal while walking on the beach set out to learn everything he could about the species. When he discovered that there are only about  1,000 left in the world- they often get trapped in discarded nets in the water- he was heartbroken and felt compelled to do something to help prevent their numbers from further dwindling.

Berryhill’s parents, Lynel and Shawn, knew their son needed to take on an active role in remedying this monk seal dilemma; he would not be able to sit on the sidelines. He subsequently began picking up trash on various beaches. These small acts of kindness did not go unnoticed- the local media ran a story about him, which was then followed by more coverage from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Then Dr. Terrie M. Williams, an expert on Hawaiian monk seals and other large endangered mammals, invited Berryhill to visit her at the Williams Integrative Carnivore EcoPhysiology lab at the University of California in Santa Cruz. At the time, just beginning kindergarten.