
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
impact

What’s meaningful to me is finding ways I or we at Brave New Films can have an impact on the issues of the day, in the broad sense, and on people’s individual lives, in a very specific sense.
Politics and policy affect us in profound and very specific ways. Living in a home or being homeless, being able to feed your family or not, losing someone who’s been killed in a war – all fall under the heading of politics, but are also deeply personal. I work on issues that have the possibility of changing lives. I feel an extraordinary sense of responsibility about the potential of what we’re doing with the films we create – wanting to do it as well as we possibly can, knowing the stakes that are involved.
Our work focuses on social justice issues, particularly the economic disparities in the United States and the reasons for them. We look at the system itself – the laws, legislation, and tax rules that contribute to creating those disparities.
We also work on projects in other countries. Right now we’re working on a social justice project in Afghanistan which we’re calling a real-time documentary. When we finish a section of the film, we put the short clips online for people to see. The film has been screened more than 1200 times and the film and clips have been seen by almost a million people.
The effects of what we do come back to me in a number of ways. Through the wonders of the Internet, we hear from people – by email and on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. People even write old-fashioned letters to us. Also, I see the effects of our work in the interactions I have with people when I speak to groups, whether in person or digitally. The impact of our work in Afghanistan reaches us when people there send notes to soldiers, policy experts, and economists. People want to participate in the work we’re doing.
I love making films and I had a career in the world of film and TV. Now I’m fortunate to be a full-time volunteer, to spend my time making an impact with films that affect political policies and the lives of individual people, offering education and inspiring action.
– Robert Greenwald
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