The 2015 Top 10 CNN Heroes were revealed by Anderson Cooper on Thursday’s edition of New Day. Now in its ninth year, CNN Heroes celebrates individuals who are making extraordinary contributions to help improve the lives of others. The Top 10 will be honored at CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, which airs on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. ET.
“In our ninth year, I am heartened to know the world hasn’t run out of Heroes,” said CNN Heroes senior EP Kelly Flynn. “We continue to be humbled by their work, and honored to be telling their stories.”
Last year’s CNN Heroes special featured Benedict Cumberbatch, John Leguizamo, Taye Diggs, Christina Hendricks, Morgan Spurlock, Questlove, Kelly Ripa and Kathy Griffin. The event returns to the American Museum of Natural History and CNN hopes to build on last year’s growth in the key A25-54 demo.
Each of the Top 10 CNN Heroes receives $10,000. The CNN Hero of the Year receives an additional $100,000 grant to further aid their work. Fans can vote on their favorite hero through Sunday, Nov. 15, at midnight PT.
Meet this year’s heroes:
- Bhagwati Agrawal – Agrawal’s organization, Sustainable Innovations, has created a rainwater harvesting system that provides water to more than 10,000 people in six drought-stricken villages in India.
- Kim Carter – Carter cycled in and out of prison and homelessness. Today, her nonprofit, Time for Change Foundation, helps homeless women reclaim their lives.
- Maggie Doyne – After traveling in war-torn Nepal in 2006, Doyne changed her life’s course. Today, she and her nonprofit, Blink Now Foundation, care for and educate hundreds of children.
- Jody Farley-Berens – Berens co-founded Singleton Moms to support single moms battling cancer. The group provides housecleaning, meals and financial aid to more than 300 parents in Arizona.
- Sean Gobin – Gobin’s organization, Warrior Hike, helps combat veterans connect with nature and process issues, as they “walk off the war” on the Appalachian Trail.
- Daniel Ivankovich – Since 2010, Ivankovich and his organization, One Patient Global Health Initiative, have treated more than 100,000 uninsured or underinsured patients in Chicago’s troubled neighborhoods.
- Richard Joyner – Joyner is encouraging healthier lifestyles in the rural town of Conetoe, NC, by helping young people grow 50,000 pounds of fresh food a year with his non-profit Conetoe Family Life Center.
- Monique Pool – Since 2005, Pool and Green Heritage Fund Suriname have rescued, rehabilitated and released more than 600 sloths and other animals to the rainforest in Suriname.
- Rochelle Ripley – Ripley and her nonprofit, hawkwing, provide healthcare and education opportunities to the Lakota people in South Dakota.
- Jim Withers – Withers and his group, Operation Safety Net, bring medical care to the homeless on Pittsburgh’s streets. Since 1992, they have reached more than 10,000 individuals and helped more than 1,200 of them transition into housing.