Denise Webb, 20, is a CoGenerate Senior Fellow. She’s a student at Berry College and a seasoned activist, working with organizations including United Way, Partnership for Southern Equity and The Sunrise Movement. She is the co-author of Why Aren’t We Doing This!...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
What Young Leaders Want — And Don’t Want — From Older Allies
We know from our nationally representative study with NORC at the University of Chicago in 2022 that 76% of Gen Z and 70% of Millennial respondents wish they had more opportunities to work across generations for change. In a new report, What Young Leaders Want — And...
Two Oscar-winning Films Shine a Light on Intergenerational Connection
Despite the ongoing drumbeat of generational conflict (a hate story), right in front of us is evidence of a new narrative of cross-generational connection and collaboration (a love story). That love story was on full display at the Grammys, most visibly in the Tracy...
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Jin Zidell
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009
Jin started Blue Planet Run to provide safe drinking water to people in the developing world.
Unsafe drinking water is a chief agent of health-related sickness and death worldwide, leading to more than 2 million deaths a year. Zidell, whose professional endeavors have included scrap iron/steel processing and real estate development, started Blue Planet Run Foundation in 2002 at age 63. The goal: to deliver safe drinking water to 200 million people by 2027. Blue Planet Run created the Peer Water Exchange, a global online network through which nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) work together to vet, select, manage, and monitor water projects funded by Blue Planet Run, other foundations, and individuals. As peers vet each other's projects, they are able to learn from each other and inform their own work. For example, an African NGO belonging to the Peer Water Exchange installed a hand pump that brought safe drinking water to 300 villagers after learning from an Indian member of the network about purchasing parts for 50 percent less. Blue Planet Run has funded more than 300 projects in 21 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, serving more than 300,000 people and fostering economic development in those areas. Says Zidell: "Gaining access to safe drinking water is the first step on the ladder out of poverty. Children go to school. Women become respected members of their communities,and these communities grow."