Ayana B. is passionate about understanding the human heart, and raising awareness about cardiovascular health. She created Ligh on the Heart, a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating the struggles of marginalized communities facing poor cardiovascular treatment by providing research advice to high school students, granting insights from medical and research professionals, and pushing for advocacy through legislation. Light on the Heart also creates and distributes Little Hearts Stem crates, providing interactive STEM activities for under-resourced students.

Learn more at www.lightontheheart.org and follow @light.on.the.heart

Grace L. has a passion for research which was sparked when she was a curious 10 year old. She created a nonprofit called Research to Empower which seeks to inspire, support and empower aspiring young researchers, offering a master class, guidebook, resources and leadership opportunities to help students, particularly those from underrepresented communities, to achieve success.

Learn more and access all of Research to Empower's free resources at

www.researchtoempower.org and follow @research2empower

Welcome back to Season 3 of Simple Acts, Big Impact: Celebrating Teen Changemakers. Today's episode is the perfect "back to school episode" about the importance of books, school supplies, and representation in storytelling.

Rohan S. and his sister Anya are the founders of the Let's Learn Foundation which hosts book drives and provides school supplies for under resourced students in central Texas.

Learn more at https://www.letslearninc.org/about and follow @letslearnfoundation

Ashley N, is a highschool junior from Kentucky who started a nonprofit called Sargeant's Army which provides toiletry kits and outerwear for people experiencing homelessness and living marginally, especially our honored veterans. She's also a six time children's book author who donates 100% of the proceeds from her books back to her nonprofit.

Learn more at www.sargeantsarmy.org

Follow Ashley at @sargeantsarmy and @itsashleynevison

My guest today, Charlie J., loved building with Lego's growing up and believes that every child deserves access to play and learning tools. He created Pass the Bricks, an organization that collects, sanitizes, sorts and distributes lego kits to children in his community who might not be able to afford them.

Learn more at www.passthebricks.org or follow @passthebricks

Lucy B from Nashville had an idea to make a homemade blanket for a friend as a birthday gift when she was only 8 years old. That thoughtful gift turned into an effort called Lucy's Love Blankets which provides handmade blankets for children going through an illness, a divorce in their family or the loss of a loved one - anyone needing a little extra love.

Learn more at @lucysloveblankets

Today, in honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, I'm delighted to share a very special conversation with Alex H. Alex tells us the story of being raised by a single mother, and how he wanted to honor her hard work and sacrifice. He wrote and illustrated a graphic novel called HERO and created a project through which he interviews single mothers and gives them a platform to tell their stories.

Learn more at www.createwithlimits.org

Hero is available on Amazon.com

On today's episode, New York teen Maya P. shares some of her many projects with us, including STEAM news, a global kids-for-kids newsletter that is dedicated to giving teens a voice and spreading important information about STEAM topics. She also created Fresh Opportunities which is a food rescue organizations that is working to fight food insecurity and hunger in her community. 

Learn more at www.steamnews.org and www.freshopportunities.org

and follow at @freshopportunities and @steamnewsofficial

Ryan H. is a young social entrepreneur from California with a passion for recycling. I know - kind of an unusual thing for a teen to be excited about, but Ryan is a special young man with a true entrepreneurial spirit. He started a recycling service called Ryan's Recycling, he partners with a city-wide service called Recycle From Home and he created Project 3R, a program that teaches kids about recycling and raises awareness on environmental issues.

Learn more at www.ryansrecycling.com and follow @ryans_recycling