Sarah Ban

I am a huge believer that everyone can parlay their talents into a profound change-making mechanism. In that regard, anybody -- a second grader, software engineer, stay-at-home mom, retired doctor -- can find an outlet for their skills, connections and stature to create a ripple effect of good. Rather than aiming to change the entire world in one fell swoop, we can begin by attempting to improve just one life at a time -- a young girl being trafficked, a starving child, or a neglected animal. Micro-lending efforts, specifically, make a huge impact since they focus on individual-to-individual action where one can directly witness the transformation of others' lives. If we apply this kind of thinking to all our world's issues we can truly see the exponentially contagious effects of an individual's actions and passion.