In Kano, a Group of Friends are Responding to Community Needs

In South Africa, the extreme gap between rich and poor is the root cause of cyclical poverty, and those living in slums face particularly high barriers to education, healthcare, and quality of life. The Ubuntu Education Fund is using a comprehensive approach that includes sustainable investment in community leadership and infrastructure, a cradle-to-career household stability service, and a dexterous, community oriented approach to helping break the cycle of poverty.

Faced with inadequate internet service that was driving away businesses, the remote West Texas town of Monahans launched a community-driven initiative to build its own fiber optic broadband network. The town cobbled together $3.2 million from a variety of sources, including federal CARES Act funds and venture capital, to create an underground fiber network that serves about 2,000 homes and businesses, with plans to expand.

Fueled by Kids provides food for students who rely on school lunches to ensure they have food to eat during the weekends. Fueled by Kids curates bags of food that are easy for the students to prepare themselves and offers them at more than 20 schools, serving more than 1,000 students.

The Transforming Lives and Communities Initiative converted an office space into a free library and resource center for local youth during the pandemic, providing them with internet access, books, games and other educational materials, including a Reading Clinic to teach local youth how to read. The Initiative continued and expanded from what started as a small venture with less than 10 participants, to over 1,000 registered users.

Local college students are volunteering their time to teach children for free in nearby villages who can’t afford tuition at traditional schools. The project started in 2014 with just 30 students but has now grown to about 100 students attending the free classes held every evening.

The Fortress of the Vulnerable Child Rescue Initiative gathers volunteers to provide an education to displaced primary school-aged children from low-income families. The organization can accommodate up to 300 children at a time and is in the process of gathering funds to build an official school building.

Evictions can have devastating effects on a student’s access to education, forcing some to drop out of school. In Delhi, a city in India, a school was built by students, community members, and volunteers using locally-sourced materials. The community had been forcibly removed from their homes, and the students were left without a school.

There are numerous problems with the education system, and the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy helps activists figure out how to tackle these issues. From racism to trauma survivors, these activists have started movements dedicated to helping improve conditions.

Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management entered into compact agreements with tribal nations in 2025, allowing tribes to operate cannabis dispensaries beyond reservation boundaries. Seven tribally owned off-reservation dispensaries are now open, with more planned. These dispensaries are serving as significant job sources as Waabigwan Mashkiki, White Earth Nation's cannabis company, has created 200 jobs alone in one of the state's poorest counties. Other states including Virginia and Wisconsin are now looking to Minnesota's framework as a model for their own tribal cannabis policies.

Amid an ICE enforcement surge that destabilized housing for immigrant families in Minneapolis, residents organized a grassroots rent relief effort that distributed about $14 million across 40 community funds. The community-driven response bypassed typical income restrictions and eligibility requirements by relying on trusted neighborhood relationships, which contributed to a dip in eviction filings in January and February. Their organizing effort also pressured state lawmakers to pass a $40 million emergency rental assistance bill.