A historic number of LGBTQ candidates in the U.S won their elections this year
According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a record of at least 340 out LGBTQ people won – beating 2020’s record of 336 for the most in US history.
Citizens
This archive collects milestones and solutions-focused stories involving citizens — everyday people taking action in their communities, organizing locally, and driving change at the grassroots level. From civic participation to community-led initiatives, these stories highlight what ordinary people accomplish when they work together.
Millennial fathers in the U.S. spend more quality time with children than in previous generations
Fathers in the U.S. have a growing preference for spending time with their children over working. According to Pew Research, dads spend three times more time with their children than two generations ago. Most of these men now see being a good father as central to their identity.
Prevalence of dementia is declining among older Americans
The age-adjusted prevalence of dementia declined from 12.2 percent of people over age 65 in 2000 to 8.5 percent of people over age 65 in 2016—a nearly one-third drop from the 2000 level, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Meat consumption is falling significantly across Western Europe
A French research company interviewed more than 4,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. More than 50% reported having reduced their meat consumption in the last five years largely for environmental, animal welfare, and personal health reasons.
Kenya’s Kuruwitu corals make remarkable recovery, thanks to local conservation drive
In 2005, residents of the area took the unprecedented step of setting aside a 30-hectare Marine Protected Area (MPA). Seventeen years on, the area has made a remarkable recovery.
Kenya’s coastal communities launch groundbreaking programs offering carbon credits for mangrove conservation
Launched two years ago, this first-of-its-kind initiative, known as Mikoko Pamoja (‘Mangroves Together’), raises money for its mangrove conservation by selling carbon credits to people and organizations eager to shrink their carbon footprint.
Kenyan engineer invents method to turn plastic waste into sturdy construction bricks
Nzambi Matee’s Nairobi-based company, Gjenge Makers, produces a variety of different paving stones, which are already being put to use to line sidewalks, driveways, and roads.
The Flipflopi Project empowers local communities in Kenya to upcycle plastic waste into boats
The Flipflopi team intends to set up a Material Recovery Center for plastics, which will be the first of its kind in the Lamu archipelago and will serve over 140,000 people.
Colombia elects first Black woman vice president, Francia Marquez
Francia Márquez became Colombia’s first Black woman vice president on June 19, 2022, winning alongside Gustavo Petro with just over half the national vote. A former housekeeper and single mother from Cauca, one of Colombia’s poorest provinces, she rose to office through years of grassroots organizing against illegal gold mining — work that earned her the Goldman Environmental Prize and, along the way, death threats she refused to back down from. Now leading a new equality ministry, she’s focused on women’s rights, rural health care, and education for communities long shut out. Her election doesn’t undo generations of exclusion, but it changes what’s imaginable — for Afro-Colombian girls, for environmental defenders, and for movements everywhere insisting the overlooked belong at the table.
Ousted anti-mining mayor heads back to Philippine city hall after landslide win
After being stripped of her post for vigorously opposing mining in her community, a local official in Palawan has won in landslide victory in the country’s May 9 elections.