6 Social Activists Changing Our Lives

Meet 6 social activists — all TED2016 Fellows — who are at the frontline of culinary justice, new media, and college sexual assualt.

Amanda Nguyen, policymaker — US

In the United States, sexual assault survivors must navigate bewildering legal labyrinths that differ from state to state, often leaving survivors further traumatized. In some states, for example, rape kits — crucial records of evidence of the crime — are destroyed long before the statute of limitations runs out. Herself a sexual assault survivor, Amanda Nguyen created an organization Rise, will soon try to fix this patchwork of rights by introducing a bill on Capitol Hill. The Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights calls for a common-sense, unified approach to protecting the rights of rape survivors, including informing survivors what resources are available to them, not destroying evidence and creating a task force to test the efficacy of policies. If the bill passes, it will help create comprehensive safeguards for the country’s 25 million to 30 million rape survivors.

Bektour Iskender, independent news publisher — Kyrgyzstan

Bektour Iskender founded Kloop, not only a news site but also a journalism school, and its honest coverage garnered a wide audience, cementing its reputation as a trusted news source. In 2010, for instance, an 18-year-old journalist, working for Kyrgyzstani youth-led news outlet Kloop broke a story of corruption implicating Kyrgyzstan’s president’s son. Today, Kloop is the fifth most popular website in Kyrgyzstan — a particularly remarkable fact given that its content is generated by its students, who are between the ages of 14 and 25. Today, Kloop’s journalists carry on uncovering government policy and corruption, making Kloop one of the most successful youth media organization in the world. Most importantly, they are leading the way for a post-Soviet generation that is finally free to know their own rights and have the courage to stand up for them, unthinkable 30 years ago.

Jessica Ladd, sexual health technologist — US

A shocking statistic: 90% of sexual assaults are committed by repeat offenders. To address this problem, infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Ladd has created Callisto, a platform that allows victims of rape to report assaults in their own time, preserving evidence safely and confidentially without having to decide whether to press charges immediately. Callisto allows electronic reporting, secured with a time-stamped document. Crucially, it also provides the option to release the information only if another victim later names the same assailant. Currently, Callisto is being piloted on college campuses in the United States and if it works, it could apprehend repeat offenders, preventing the majority of sexual assaults from happening in the first place.

Majala Mlagui, gemologist and mining entrepreneur — Kenya

Small miners produce more than 80% of the world’s colored gemstone output, yet they see very little share of the profits generated by the international market. In Majala Mlagui’s native Kenya, miners not only face difficult physical conditions, but they’re also often exploited by unscrupulous brokers who trade the stones in the international market. A love of gemstones and compassion for the miners’ plight prompted Majala to form a social enterprise Thamani — a Swahili word meaning “value” — which aims to educate miners on fair market value, on how to source fair and stable markets for East African coloured gemstones, and on how to process stones to add value. Meanwhile, Majala urges all who purchase gemstones to question their provenance, believing that doing so will help convince those in the supply chain to be more conscious and responsible, which in turn will improve conditions for miners.

Trevor Timm, free speech and privacy advocate — US

Under the First Amendment, says Trevor Timm, the press has the right to publish secret information if it’s in the public interest. But it’s nearly impossible to exercise this right if journalists can’t gather the information and protect the identity their sources. In the past, the government could easily catch whistleblowers and journalists by gathering data from tapping emails and phones, and accessing their financial and travel information. Today, Timm says, communications software now exists that makes it easier for journalists to protect their sources. Take Secure Drop, an open source whistleblower submission system invented by Aaron Swartz and now developed by Freedom of the Press Foundation, where Timm works. It allows whistleblowers to upload information via a news site’s protected web browser, from which it’s encrypted and stored on a server, making it difficult to access. Why do technologies like this matter? Whistleblowers are vital watchdogs protecting public interest — whether they’re warning us about the next Flint water crisis, financial meltdown, or public breach of privacy.

Michael Twitty, culinary historian — US

What is culinary justice? According to culinary historian Michael Twitty, whose great great grandparents were enslaved ancestors of the American South, culinary justice is the idea that “historically oppressed peoples and people of color should have the right to be recognized for their gastronomic contributions, and derive from them empowerment and uplift.” It is through this lense that Twitty approaches his work as the first black antebellum chef since Civil War. His project The Cooking Gene teaches classes about the gastronomical culture of the American slaves, teaches young people to grow food, and demonstrates historical cooking on historical plantations. “Food has the power to transcend difference,” Twitty says, describing an event at which people of different backgrounds — southern whites, blacks, and others — sat down in a slave cabin in at a plantation to eat a meal he’d cooked. “The main ingredient: mutual respect. Our ancestors could not have imagined sitting down at the same table with respect, as cousins rather than as combatants.”

The TED Fellows program hand-picks young innovators from around the world to raise international awareness of their work and maximize their impact.