Geoffrey Canada is the president and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit, community-based organization deemed "one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time" by the New York Times Magazine. Jonathan Kozol called him "one of the few authentic heroes of New York and one of the best friends children have, or ever will have, in our nation," and Oprah Winfrey simply refers to him as "an angel from God." Canada is featured in Davis Guggenheim's documentary Waiting for "Superman".

Jamar Nicholas is a Philadelphia-based artist and educator who has dedicated his career to empowering young people. Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson said about his work: "Nicholas has his pen on the pulse of everything worth watching."