Lisa Pitz, Director of Hunger Free New Jersey, helped push for important changes that have made 60,000 additional New Jersey students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school and continues to work for free meals for all students.

Mara Tippett, Executive Director of Raritan Headwaters is leveraging the help of thousands of New Jersey volunteers to help keep local streams, rivers and drinking water clean and safe.

Jeff Trout, Supervisor of the Technology Learning Center at the Cape May County Library, helps ensure that seniors are not left behind when it comes to technology. Jeff built innovative, free programs that empower seniors to use available technology in their everyday lives. These skills are helping seniors avoid financial scams, connect with family and friends, access benefits, and help cut down on unnecessary trips by doing more online.

Jennifer Chauhan launched Project Write Now to give people of all ages and backgrounds supportive spaces to explore their authentic selves through writing and sharing their stories. She is leveraging decades of education and professional writing experience to help people discover the power and joy of writing.

Westampton Township Mayor Sandy Henley is driving smart collaboration and building relationships across communities through shared government services to save local taxpayers money. Under his leadership, Westampton cut tax collector expenses in half by partnering with Evesham Township.

Katherine Bassett is a lifelong educator, innovator, and advocate who leads New Jersey Tutoring Corps, a nonprofit that, to date, has  provided tutoring for more than 11,000 students across 19 counties in New Jersey, but at the same time, helps its 400 paid tutors, site coordinators, and instructional coaches build career pathways in education.

To tackle the unprecedented reading achievement crisis caused by the pandemic, Bernie Flynn, a volunteer who leads the community nonprofit Mercer Street Friends, launched a reading enrichment program at Gregory Elementary in Trenton.

Veteran Gladys Krasicki is continuing a lifetime of service in her community as CEO of Veterans 101, a nonprofit she formed to help create housing for veterans in need. Gladys purchased a vacant motel near Atlantic City with personal funds and community donations, and is transforming the building into a housing village for homeless veterans.

Dr. Maria Sophocles, a practicing ob-gyn and founder of Women’s Healthcare of Princeton, was a critical advocate for a recently-passed NJ law that eliminates barriers by allowing pharmacists to provide birth control without a prescription.

Two extraordinary leaders, Bob Guarasci, founder and CEO of the New Jersey Community Development Corporation and Kenneth Morris, Vice President of External Affairs at St. Joseph’s Hospital, helped create New Jersey’s first hospital-based supportive housing in Paterson.

Loving parents and dedicated LGBTQ+ advocates Ralph and Michael Maguire-Losanno fought to ensure all couples have the opportunity to raise a child in New Jersey. The Morris Plains couple worked to pass legislation that expands health insurance coverage for LGBTQ+ individuals for infertility treatments.

● Red Bank Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano, who has also served her town as a Councilwoman and a volunteer firefighter, has led efforts to build a partnership between police and social workers to improve and de-escalate responses to mental health emergencies.

Larry Abrams is using his passion for reading to serve and empower thousands of kids and help them get on the right academic track. Larry started BookSmiles, a Pennsauken-based nonprofit that has given more than one million books away to help ensure families and children in underserved communities have access to high-quality reading material.

Angela Logan captures the true creative problem-solving spirit of New Jersey. Using her passion for cooking, she avoided foreclosure on her home by starting a small business, “Mortgage Apple Cakes,” in the heart of the mortgage crisis.

A leader who knows how to get things done, State Senator Nellie Pou has been dogged in her work to help New Jersey residents fight and overcome addiction and support families affected by the grief and trauma it can bring. Senator Pou sponsored legislation allocating resources from the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund to the New Jersey Department of Human Services to bolster addiction recovery programs statewide.