By Candy Feliciano
For Variety
WHAT makes a legacy truly powerful? It’s not about time; it’s about the real change we create. Today’s global crises like ocean pollution, hunger, and climate change feel overwhelming. But every problem has a solution. We honor those who refuse to watch from the sidelines. These changemakers prove that even our biggest challenges can be solved through focus, innovation, and relentless action.
Boyan Slat is a Dutch inventor whose life’s work started at 16 during a scuba trip. He saw more plastic bags than fish. This moment showed him that removing existing ocean plastic was just as vital as preventing new waste. At 18, he founded The Ocean Cleanup. His organization tackles two goals: deploying large-scale systems to extract plastic from ocean gyres like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and stopping new plastic from entering through rivers. His approach uses ocean currents to gather plastic and aims to finish the cleanup in decades, not centuries. This prevents plastic from breaking into dangerous microplastics. His vision has produced real results: working ocean systems that collect plastic, and the Interceptor, a solar-powered device targeting the 1,000 most polluting rivers worldwide. This offers a practical way to stop 80% of ocean plastic at its source.
Known as the “Queen of Recycling,” Isatou Ceesay is a social entrepreneur from N’Jau, Gambia. Her journey began with a local problem: discarded plastic bags were destroying her village. They killed livestock and created breeding grounds for malarial mosquitoes. Despite mockery, she founded the Recycling Women of the Gambia. Her genius was in seeing a two-fold solution where others saw only waste: clean up the environment while lifting up the community.
She cleans up pollution while creating jobs for marginalized women. She builds a self-sustaining business that fights poverty and protects public health. The results speak clearly: hundreds of West African women now earn steady income by washing and crocheting plastic bags into durable products. The initiative has trained over 11,000 people across Gambia on environmental awareness. It has sparked a new culture of entrepreneurship and dramatically reduced plastic waste throughout her community.
José Andrés is a world-renowned Spanish-American chef who transformed his career after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Traditional aid moved too slowly. So he founded World Central Kitchen to be “first to the frontlines,” providing immediate, fresh, chef-prepared meals during humanitarian and climate crises. Andrés’s approach revolutionizes disaster relief. Instead of pre-packaged meals, WCK mobilizes quickly, setting up large-scale kitchens and partnering with local chefs. This ensures people receive nourishing, culturally appropriate food with dignity and speed. The results are enormous: WCK has served hundreds of millions of meals worldwide after hurricanes, earthquakes, and in war zones like Ukraine and Gaza. By paying local restaurants, food trucks, and farmers to prepare these meals, WCK injects vital capital directly into devastated communities. This supports immediate economic recovery.
Oprah Winfrey, media executive and philanthropist, drew inspiration from her difficult childhood and a promise to Nelson Mandela. She founded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. The academy nurtures the next generation of dynamic, educated, ethical women leaders. It offers a comprehensive, full-scholarship boarding experience to academically gifted girls from disadvantaged families. OWLAG is more than a school; it’s an ecosystem of opportunity designed to ensure that poverty and trauma never get the final word on a girl’s future. It provides a 52-acre, state-of-the-art campus and intensive support. This ensures that talent never goes to waste due to lack of opportunity or trauma. The results are remarkable: OWLAG maintains a 100% matriculation pass rate, well above the national average. Over 525 young women have graduated and attended prestigious universities globally. The foundation continues supporting their higher education, creating new community leaders dedicated to giving back.
The paths of these changemakers shows us that greatest missions are not distant concepts. It’s a model for local, immediate action. In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the opportunity to create impact is everywhere, from protecting our reefs to empowering our youth and ensuring food security across our islands. True legacy is defined by the courage to act when others stand still.
