Among this year’s crop of Fast Company‘s World Changing Ideas are organizations and initiatives with an unmistakably people-forward impact.
For Aon and Mona, that meant getting money in the hands of people that need it—in Aon’s case, building a catastrophe bond in the event of devastating hurricanes, and for Mona, giving underserved entrepreneurs access to financial support.
Edesia Nutrition and PharmaBox also helped get critical resources to people in need, whether it is emergency food aid or medical supplies. Field Operations proved the community-altering benefits of dynamic public spaces in both the Bay Area and Seattle.
Read about all of them below.
Winners
A City-Owned Grocery Store, Cohere
Read more about how Cohere worked with the city of Atlanta and other partners on the city’s public-private grocery store effort.
AI for social services, Binti
In the child welfare system, administrative demands are an overwhelming but necessary burden, often delaying family approvals while causing burnout in social workers—a field struggling with nationwide workforce shortages. Developed in partnership with Anthropic’s AI for Good initiative, Binti AI utilizes responsible technology to ease that burden. Binti AI, which officially launched in August 2025, automates documentation, summarizes case files, and transcribes recordings of meetings for social workers. Each AI feature is HIPAA-compliant and bias-mitigated and requires human review, providing a level of accuracy and discretion necessary in sensitive governmental work. Among 20 participating agencies, early pilots show a 75% reduction in time spent on each home study—time better used accelerating family approvals and engaging with the children who need it most.
Aon Disaster Finance, Aon
When Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica in October 2025, it became one of the strongest storms to ever form in the Atlantic Ocean. A $150 million catastrophe bond, built by Aon and the World Bank, gave the island nation immediate access to relief funds. Aon’s technological innovations helped Jamaica secure the full payout in a matter of weeks—a marked improvement from the months-long post-storm reports of hurricanes past. Aon’s Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System ensured that Hurricane Melissa met the strength criteria to trigger the full payout. Catastrophe bonds have been used since the 1990s, often by wealthy nations; the transaction structured by Aon paves the way for smaller nations vulnerable to climate crises to access critical financial protection.
Barry Farm redevelopment, Drummond Projects, POAH, and D.C. Housing Authority
The Barry Farm neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., was established in 1867 as a settlement for African Americans after the Civil War, quickly becoming a community for a growing Black political class in the city. Now, following years of deteriorating conditions and resident displacement, city leadership and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) have spearheaded a revitalization project creating affordable housing and community infrastructure in the historic neighborhood. In November 2024, the District celebrated the opening of The Asberry, designed by the D.C.-based, Black-led architecture firm Drummond Projects. Of the building’s 108 units, 70 were set aside specifically for formerly displaced residents. All residents have access to mental health services, youth programs, workforce training, and childcare as part of the Community Impact Space, itself designed to serve 2,500 residents. The redevelopment will ultimately create at least 900 new rental and for-sale housing units.
Coalition to fight malnutrition, Edesia Nutrition
Since its founding in 2010, Edesia Nutrition has manufactured ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) that have provided life-saving aid to 28 million severely malnourished children across 65 countries. When the Trump administration dismantled USAID—a critical source of funding for Edesia—the Rhode Island–based enterprise had to find a work-around. In response, Edesia embraced a coalition-driven model to expedite emergency nutrition response, working with coordinated networks of NGOs and private donors rather than traditional funding pathways like USAID and UNICEF. Through partnerships with two dozen NGOs, Edesia produced and shipped more than 3.5 million pounds of food to approximately 220,000 children in areas in crisis, including Gaza and South Sudan.
Disaster Recovery Platform, A Sense of Home
Founded in 2015, A Sense of Home has spent its tenure preventing homelessness by creating furnished homes for young people formerly in foster care. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires, the nonprofit sprang into action and used its skillset for disaster relief, opening up a new operations center near Altadena and mobilizing a corps of volunteers and corporate partners including Living Spaces and Ruggable. In under 11 months, A Sense of Home created 570 homes for L.A. County residents affected by the wildfires. The nonprofit also recognizes that essentials and furnishings are often the difference between a house and a home—A Sense of Home outfitted homes with hundreds of items, including rugs, repurposed furniture, kitchenware, and toiletries.
For Our Freedom 2025, American Promise
January 2026 marked the 50th anniversary of Buckley v. Valeo, the landmark Supreme Court case that equated political spending to free speech—a decision that continues to reverberate with cases like Citizens United. With that milestone in mind, the advocacy organization American Promise continued its efforts to advance the For Our Freedom Amendment, which would put the power to regulate political spending back in the hands of state legislatures. In 2025, American Promise expanded its active state campaigns to 11 states, secured all-too-rare bipartisan sponsors, and helped advance a pathway to federal action, with 23 states now supporting a campaign finance amendment. American Promise also filed its first U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in NRSC v. FEC to further spotlight the threat of money in politics.
Interim Homes for the Unhoused, DignityMoves
Read more about how DignityMoves’s temporary dwelling units, built on leased land, are helping cities quickly address street homelessness.
Map Africa Initiative, Esri
The Map Africa Initiative is working to standardize data across the African continent via accurate, modern basemaps—a move away from the region’s fragmented and outdated mapping systems. Launched in July 2025, the initiative aggregates the technological capabilities of its participating partners: Esri’s powerful mapping software, Space42’s satellite analytics, and Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. The project unlocks a number of possibilities across all 54 countries. Detailed terrain mapping will improve logistics and routing between nations; enable easy monitoring of crop health; and make it possible to efficiently mitigate climate crises and enact disaster responses. Accurate maps will also bolster infrastructure and urban planning. Thanks to strategic partnerships with organizations like the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Development Agency, Map Africa is nearer to closing the region’s digital data gap.
PharmaBox, Action Against Hunger
During humanitarian crises, the medical supply chain isn’t equipped to deal with factors like emergency deployment or extreme temperatures. Developed in partnership between Action Against Hunger and the CMA CGM Foundation, PharmaBox is a strategic health innovation that transports medicine securely anywhere it’s needed. PharmaBoxes are mobile pharmacies and medical storage units in 40-foot shipping containers, making them compliant with global logistics frameworks. The modular structures are also solar-powered and temperature-controlled, remaining between 20°C and 25°C and under 65% humidity for sensitive medical care. The first PharmaBox was deployed to Bangui, Central African Republic, in February 2025, followed by more units sent to Chad and Sudan. Crucially, PharmaBoxes are constructed with redeployment in mind, with each unit capable of operating for 10 years—enough time to serve more than half a million patients.
Presidio Tunnel Tops Outpost Meadow, Field Operations
Since its opening in 2022, Presidio Tunnel Tops, a 14-acre national park that connects the San Francisco Bay waterfront with the Presidio’s historic Main Post, has attracted more than 5 million visitors. In summer 2025, the site expanded to include the Outpost Meadow picnic area, a former asphalt parking lot that is now a 1.5-acre green space. Field Operations—the same landscape architecture visionaries behind New York City’s High Line—informed its design by way of thousands of community members’ feedback ranging from activities to signage to food service. The site offers space and accessible amenities for up to 240 people, blending historic and natural landscapes as the backdrop for picnic tables, grills, food trucks, bike parking, and a campfire circle. Outpost Meadow is an extension of the waterfront’s natural environment, featuring 23,000 native plants that serve as a coastal habitat for local wildlife. It also incorporates reclaimed materials sourced from the Presidio.
Redefining business ownership, New Majority Capital
As the economy braces for the full crest of the silver tsunami—the demographic shift of baby boomers reaching retirement age—New Majority Capital is creating the tools for the next generation of small business owners. New Majority Capital works to build entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) by combining three critical functions: education, capital, and post-acquisition. In 2025 NMC expanded its training platform bETA Accelerator, training more than 370 underrepresented entrepreneurs and running five cohorts across multiple cities. The organization also advanced toward the first close of NMC Fund I, which removes a barrier for entry for acquisition-seeking entrepreneurs by providing the down payment. And the NMC Concierge sets up entrepreneurs for success by providing portfolio companies with access to operations tools like marketing support and insurance.
Seattle Waterfront Park, Field Operations
On September 6, Seattle celebrated the opening of its new Waterfront Park, a thriving 20-acre site that positions the Elliott Bay waterfront as the city’s new “Front Porch.” Designed by the New York–based architecture studio Field Operations, Waterfront Park spans 26 city blocks and includes a 1.2-mile protected bike path, the panoramic Overlook Walk, and the cascading Salish Steps. The refurbished waterfront is 15 years in the making and replaces what was formerly an elevated viaduct highway. The design integrates preexisting cultural landmarks like Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium into the infrastructure, creating a cohesive park that unites the urban environs and the coastal landscape. Indeed, Waterfront Park benefits the city’s human and marine residents alike. Pedestrians can take part in cultural programming and access refurbished piers, and the reconstructed Elliott Bay Seawall, Habitat Beach, and Salmon Migration Corridor encourage a bustling marine ecosystem and reduce pollution in the bay.
Small business financial coaching, Mona
Millions of underbanked small businesses in the United States struggle to access capital. Launched in 2025, Mona is an AI-powered financial platform that connects these entrepreneurs to critical funding by matching them with suitable loans, grants, and government programs. Rather than navigating dozens of loan and grant applications, Mona’s users need only fill out a two-minute “common app” before being matched with a list of best-fit options. The platform has collaborated with dozens of community partners to reach would-be business owners in underserved neighborhoods, including Hot Bread Kitchen, University of Chicago Polsky Center, Michigan Black Business Alliance, and the Detroit Hispanic Development Corp. To date, Mona has provided access to financial support totaling more than $1 million in funding to over 1,000 users, 94% of whom are people of color and 51% women. And 85% of the platform’s user base are immigrants or first-generation entrepreneurs.
Social Media for the Art World, Collecteurs
Read more about how Collecteurs is building an art economy with the artist at its center.
Text-to-911 AI translation, Intrado Life & Safety
During life-threatening emergencies, language barriers can cause delays and inaccuracies, wasting precious time. Intrado Life & Safety, a leader in emergency communications technology, is working to advance Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) infrastructure nationwide, providing operators at Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) with AI-powered translation features. The Text-to-911 messaging is powered by Intrado VIPER and VIPER NextGen, a cloud-native platform that completes real-time translation in more than 54 languages. The tool deployed to Columbus, Ohio, in 2025, where it has helped operators provide faster service to nonfluent English speakers. The city also enlisted recently naturalized citizens to test and validate Intrado’s text-translation technology.
The Local History Initiative, Blanchard House Institute
The Local History Initiative supports small institutions’ efforts to safeguard the historical and cultural impact of overlooked communities. Stewarded by the Florida-based Blanchard House Institute, the initiative has worked to help assess collections, ready them for digitalization, preserve oral histories, and strengthen accessibility. The initiative has worked with organizations in Alaska, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas that highlight rural, Indigenous, and historically Black communities. In Alaska, for example, the Local History Initiative partnered with a Tlingit cultural organization to preserve stories and history in the local language. In Mississippi, the initiative worked with the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument to organize invaluable materials. The mission is especially critical ahead of the country’s semiquincentennial, when overlooked corners of American history deserve more visibility than ever.
Women’s track-and-field meets, Athlos
Despite the universal appeal of track and field, the sport is often relegated to marquee events like the Olympics. Athlos—the first women’s-only professional track-and-field competition—aims to turn track and field into a cultural juggernaut, just as leagues like the NWSL and the WNBA have exploded in recent years. Founded by venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian in 2024, Athlos meetings have attracted talents like Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall who, along with Sha’Carri Richardson, have become adviser–owners and shareholders. In addition to meetings at New York’s Icahn Stadium, Athlos brought the competition into the city streets with the Times Square long jump—a free public event that reached more than 4.5 million viewers across YouTube, X, and ESPN+. In 2026, the third edition will return to New York and expand to London.
Honorable Mentions
Avelia Liberty, Alstom
Decolonizing Wealth Project, Decolonizing Wealth Project
EcoChef, EcoChef
Financial psychographic model, Psympl
Frontline Engagement Hub, goHappy
Malnutrition Advocacy Fund, Malnutrition Advocacy Fund
MassPay, MassPay
Memory Café, National Comedy Center
Neu5Gc-free beef, JR Ranch Foods
Opioid Crisis Response Program, Equal Justice Works
Playbook for online game community development, Thriving in Games Group
Project Ripple: Trauma-informed mental health for immigrant communities, BrandBackstage
Senseable City Global Labs, MIT Senseable City Lab
Smart sound shield, Boston University
SteadyTrail, SteadyTrail Technologies
Tractor Beam sci-fi litmag, Tractor Beverage Co.
Explore the full list of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, 191 projects that are making the world more accessible, equitable, and sustainable.
