Papa Jacques Montouroy, Aid Worker

The legendary aid worker spent decades in war-torn locales, providing food to the hungry and teaching poverty-stricken kids to play soccer.

Norma McCorvey (1947–2017), Roe v. Wade plaintiff

Plaintiff in the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case.

Asma Jahangir (1952 – 2018), prominent human rights activist in Pakistan

OnTime Magazine'slist of the 100 most influential womenf

Children Really Can Change the World (Here Are 9 Who Did)

As Florida teenagers lead the #MarchForOurLives, we look back at heroic children through history.

Bill Jenkins (1945–2019), tried to end Tuskegee syphilis experiment

Bill Jenkins was an epidemiologist and government whistleblower who tried to bring an end to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment by exposing it as racist and unethical. The study began in 1932 when 600 black men, 399 of whom had syphilis, were recruited for a study in exchange for free health care. The study quietly continued for four decades, during which time the men were denied emerging treatments for syphilis and allowed to pass the disease along to their wives and children. When Jenkins joined the Public Health Service in 1967, he learned about the still-ongoing experiment and began working to bring it to the public's attention so it could be stopped. After others got involved in whistleblowing the study's poor methods, a governmental hearing deemed the study problematic and it came to an end in 1972. A subsequent lawsuit brought monetary compensation to the remaining subjects and their survivors, and years later, Jenkins led the effort to get an official apology from President Bill Clinton to the victims of the experiment and their families.

Leila Janah (1982–2020), Samasource CEO who employed the poor

Leila Janah was an entrepreneur who founded Samasource with the goal of raising up deeply impoverished people in Africa and India by giving them jobs. Janah had been working as a consultant for an outsourcing firm, which employed middle-class Indian workers to do digital jobs like tagging and annotating images. She wondered why those jobs couldn’t be done by the poor, who desperately needed the employment — so she founded Samasource, providing training and living wages to thousands of women and others in poverty. The work they do generates data used for video game technology, self-driving car research, and more. Janah later founded the luxury cosmetics line LXMI, which also employs the poor to harvest and process ingredients.

Dianna Ortiz (1958–2021), nun who survived kidnapping and founded anti-torture group

Dianna Ortiz was a Catholic nun who was abducted and tortured while serving as a missionary in Guatemala, and later foundedtheTorture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International(TASSC).

Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931–2021), who helped end apartheid in South Africa

Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican cleric, outspoken opponent of apartheid and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thomas Buergenthal (1934–2023), prominent human rights advocate

Thomas Buergenthal was a Holocaust survivor who went on to become an attorney, judge, and scholar, and an influential advocate for human rights.

Ethel Kennedy (1928–2024), human rights advocate

Ethel Kennedy was the widow of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and an advocate for human rights.