Top 50 Social Crusaders and Change Makers 2014

When we think of individuals that fit into the Social Entrepreneur and Change Maker categories, rarely do we consider business owners that have highly profitable businesses that also use their companies to give back to the world in ways other than using their profits to support important causes.

This year, when we were assessing individuals to include in our list, we decided to broaden the spectrum. In addition to looking at those building businesses for purpose and championing causes in SocEnt and Non-For-Profit environments, we would also be looking at individuals that are leading the charge for social issues both in Australia and overseas.

All individuals included in the list currently live in Australia, or if overseas, are Australian citizens.

The changes these people are trying to make in the world are wide and varied, from cleaning up pollution of our waterways to continuing the fight for the status of women in our workforce.

NOTE: Because we don’t include staff or advisors of Shoe String in any of our official lists determined internally, co-founder of League of Extraordinary Women, Liz Atkinson does not appear with her fellow business partners below.

Here are our picks for the Top 50 Social Crusaders and Change Makers across our country for 2014:

[table caption=”50 Aussie Social Crusaders & Changemakers” width=”650″ colwidth=”20|900|300|500|30″ colalign=”centre|centre|centre|centre|centre”]
no,Name,Organisation,Cause,Location
1,Asher Wolf,Journalism,Refugees | Internet Freedom,NSW
2,Daniel Flynn,Thankyou.co,Water | Food | Hygiene,VIC
3,Shanil Samarakoon,Empower,Self-Reliant Communities,NSW
4,Samah Hadid,The Global Poverty Project,Human Rights,Currently O/S
5,Ehon Chan,Happiness and It’s Causes Conference 2014,Mental Health,VIC
6,Kaj Lofgren,The School of Life,Education,VIC
7,Elliot Spiegel,GiveShop,Second Hand Exchange Fundraising,NSW
8,Chantelle Baxter,One Girl,Female Education,VIC
9,Stuart Cook,Zambrero,Food for Communities in Need,ACT
10,Dr Sam Prince,Zambrero,Food for Communities in Need,ACT
11,Lauren Anderson,CollaborativeConsumption.com,Sustainable Living,NSW
12,Avis Mulhall,Think Act Change,Connecting Changemakers,NSW
13,Rebecca Scott, STREAT,Homelessness,VIC
14,Dustin Leonard,Hero Condoms,HIV in Africa,NSW
15,Creel Price, Club Kidpreneur,Education,NSW
16,Mick Spencer,OnTheGo Foundation,Sports Education in Fiji & East Timor,ACT
17,Ronnie Khan,OzHarvest,Food Waste,NSW
18,Tim Kenworthy,Useful Inc,Helping Communities,WA
19,Akram Azimi,I am the Other,Indigenous Mentoring,WA
20,Sheryl Thai,League of Extraordinary Women,Status of Women,VIC
21,Sarah Riegelhuth,League of Extraordinary Women,Status of Women,NSW
22,Marie Cruz-de Vera,League of Extraordinary Women,Status of Women,VIC
23,Carolyn Curtis,Family by Family,Helping Families,SA
24,John O’Brien,CleanTech,Clean Tech Investments,SA
25,Julian O’Shea,Makeshift Studio, Creative Collaboration,VIC
26,Cameron Burgess,uncompromise,Change Making,QLD
27,Nicolas Parkhill,ACON,HIV and Health Education,NSW
28,Peter Ball,Buffed,Employment,QLD
29,Dr Hassan Ahmad,Conscious Step,Poverty,NSW
30,Adam Long,Conscious Step,Poverty,NSW
31,Prashant Mehta,Conscious Step,Poverty,NYC Based
32,Tom Dawkins,Start Some Good,Crowdfunding,NSW
33,Tim Silverwood,ReChusable,Pollution,NSW
34,Sebastien Robertson,Batyr,Youth Empowerment,NSW
35,Rachel Taylor,Living Fundraisers,Eco friendly fundraising,NSW
36,Rebeka Jaguers,Living Fundraisers,Eco Friendly Fundraising,NSW
37,Edmond Lee,OneHug,How far can one hug go?,NSW
38,Kimi Anderson,TravelGiver.com,Socially Conscious Travel,NSW
39,Michelle Williams,Ideaction,Business for Purpose,NSW
40,Nick Savaidis,Etiko,Fairtrade & Community,VIC
41,Anne Gawen,Connecting Up,Empowering NFPs,SA
42,Lisa Fox,Open Shed,Collaborative Consumption,NSW
43,Jeremy Liddle,ENYA.org,Youth Entrepreneurship & Unemployment,NSW
44,Dwayne Martens,Amazonia,Fair Trade and Sustainability of the Amazon,NSW
45,Sonia Ben Ali,Urban-Refugees.org,Status of Refugees,VIC
46,David Delvalle,Urban-Refugees.org,Status of Refugees,VIC
47,Helena Martin,RipeNearMe,Urban Farming,SA
48,Alistair Martin,RipeNearMe,Urban Farming,SA
49,Rami Mandow,Community Brave,Bullying and Youth Suicide,NSW
50,Sali Stevanja,I Touch Myself Project,Breast Cancer Awareness,NSW
[/table]