Over the years, Claire Nelson has learned that America is a collective idea in constant refinement, and that the American dream is one that all of us who come to its shores have a hand in framing and reshaping. She believes that Caribbean Americans must play their role in dreaming a successful 21st Century America into being, and as such, ICS is an essential messenger, and Caribbean American Heritage Month (CAHM) must be a womb for the nurturing and birthing of common cause.

Alvaro Maldonado is the founding Director of Ballet Teatro Internacional (BTI), a non-profit organization created under a social entrepreneur model that generates transformational dance training programs in the U.S and in Central America.

The Redwood String Ensemble's mission is to demonstrate that music has the unique power to surpass the limits as race, creed, gender, and sexuality.

The Military Acceptance Project is working to put a face to the service of gay and lesbian service members to shatter the negative stereotypes that the general public may have about their service.

JJ Kahle works to eliminate homophobia and transphobia from our educational environment as headlines throughout the United States painfully remind us, the consequences of the educational community turning a blind eye to bullying and harassment of students are starkly inadequate, negligent, and at times, fatal.

The Bill Wilson Center provides a continuum of services for youth and young families, including street outreach and a drop-in center for homeless youth, emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent and supportive housing, and works to prevent poverty by helping youth make the connections they need to be self-sufficient adults.

Thanks to work done by Lisa Stambolis and the organization Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., homeless youth in the Maryland area have made headway on serious regulatory issues preventing the care of minors without homes.

Steve Bewsey has opened up his heart and his home for the past 56 years to homeless children. He believes that if we as a community can come together and start addressing the issues of youth homelessness, one day we can come to a solution.

Beth McCullough works tirelessly to make sure that the homeless kids she rescues become successful young adults and with 87% of her "kids" going on to higher education, her work has paid off.

The journey through homelessness is never easy, especially for a child. Unfortunately, schools, housing agencies, and homeless service providers have historically referred families back and forth for resources but rarely worked hand-in-hand to meet the particular needs of school-age children. That's why programs like Project Community Connections are working to provide hope for those suffering from homelessness.

At The Night Ministry, Paul Hamann works to create programs and environments that accept youth for who they are without question and provide them with a variety of developmentally appropriate services that are the platform for them to begin to realize their dreams, to claim this land as their own. Those services form a continuum of care that includes street outreach and extends to a two-year transitional living program.

As Executive Director of the National Outdoor Leadership School, John Gans has worked for the past 16 years to share his passion for the outdoors and education.

Focal Point Global, a non-profit youth educational organization, has a mission to give disadvantaged children in the United States and in African countries access to a global education without leaving their neighborhoods.

Focal Point Global is a 501c3 organization empowering the world’s disadvantaged youth through global education and technology to address social issues in their communities.