Kory Hansen of Salt Lake City, Utah was a leader of a class of fifth-graders who carried out an amazing public effort to right a wrong.
Hansen and his team alerted their neighborhood to a toxic-waste dump in their midst, lobbied the city to have it cleaned up, and then pushed the Utah House of Representatives for state legislation to help pay for future clean-ups.
Because of the students' activism, the Environmental Protection Agency began an investigation and the site became a priority for cleanup. Eventually, 50,000 barrels of waste were removed and a fence was built around the site due to pressure from the EPA.
The students lobbied industries, environmental groups, and service organizations asking for added funds for the cleanup. They raised $2,200 cash and $500 in services for the cause.
After that, House Bill 199, a State Contributory Superfund, was successfully passed and the students received a standing ovation in the Utah House of Representatives.
Kory and team took their initiative further when they lobbied for a state law that allowed citizens to help pay for such clean-ups.
The team applied for a Waste Minimization and Recycling Grant, attaching it to a Department of Health proposal that succesfully increased their $2,200 to $22,000 thanks to a 10- to-1 match from the EPA.
Kory was one of 29 young Giraffes who went to Ukraine and Russia in 1990 to meet with young activists there.
Update:
Kory Hansen is a human-rights activist living and working in Washington, D.C. for the National Rural Development Program, the Work Together Foundation, and the CoStar Group. He says: "I believe ALL people, without any qualifiers, deserve equal access to the same freedoms, rights and resources, and tools to the live the best life possible for themselves and their families."
In 2013, as part of the School of International Affairs at Penn State University, he went to Nyeri, Kenya with a goal: "using no more than two people, $200 and two days," Hansen and a teammate provided fresh water to rural residents, using a colloidal silver ceramic water filter designed by Potters for Peace. Hansen reveled in the experience, which included working with a 13 year-old villager who was HIV-positive.
Of Hansen, a friend said: "Kory's dedication to development, and his desire to assist in the sustainable betterment of the developing world set him apart. His experiences in Africa, passion for his work and academic diligence and his welcoming and friendly personality make him a wonderful person to study and work with." Hansen received in 2013 a Micro Enterprise Fellowship with Village HopeCore International, which promotes integrated social and economic development in rural African communities.