Vote to Improve Communities | Launch Pad

Meet the winners and finalists.

The five winners will receive $5,000 each to carry out their ideas.

The entries are listed below in alphabetical order. Click "learn more" to read more about a winner's or finalist's idea.

The Winners

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Anne Cheung

Create a cancer support group for Chinese speakers.

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Anthony Genia

Develop entrepreneurial training for Native American youth.

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Linda Grotberg

Help local farmers make sunflower oil biofuel.

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James Robinson

Provide services to GLBT youth at risk of homelessness.

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Janine Vanderburg

Train corporate salespeople in nonprofit fundraising.

The Finalists

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David Buck

Offer midlife internships to teach job skills.

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Michael Caldwell

Help small businesses in the inner-city.

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Esther Cantu

Recruit bilingual mentors for Spanish-speaking schoolchildren.

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Robert Deissig

Provide career help to returning veterans.

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Cathy Elser

Engage older adults in the fight against childhood obesity.

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Rachel Emmer

Teach residents in affordable housing about healthy foods and gardening.

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Susan Evans

Engage retired nurses to teach kids about healthy cooking.

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Ellen Freudenheim

Use text messaging to increase health awareness.

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Rita Hubbard

Teach low-income parents baby sign language to enhance interaction.

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L. Patricia Ice

Provide counsel to undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

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Vicky Jekich

Improve access to arts therapy, especially in rural areas.

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Irene Martinez

Engage immigrant women in the fight against domestic violence.

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Lynn McGee

Establish a primary care network for the underserved.

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Nancy Fernandez Mills

Provide health training to low-income Hispanics.

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Milton E. Morgan

Provide internet access to low-income seniors.

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Robert Morrow

Teach child care providers to identify special needs children.

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Ron Moulton

Connect project managers with nonprofits in the developing world.

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Rhonda Rundle

Counsel public high school students on the path to college.

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Shekinah Shakur

Reduce infant mortality with trained midwives and doulas.

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Rod Wilson

Organize advocacy services for residents of assisted living.