Upstanders

What are Upstanders?

Let's start with this: They are the opposite of bystanders.

They are problem solvers and protestors, students and parents, professionals and civic leaders.

Some fight injustice; others fearlessly challenge the status quo. They are ordinary people who are making extraordinary differences in their communities and beyond. From Salt Lake City to Memphis to Baltimore, Upstanders remind us that participation in civic life has no bounds - and that we can all be the change we wish to see in the world. Howard Schultz, executive chairman of Starbucks, and former Washington Post senior editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran searched throughout America and chose these 10 upstanding citizens to profile for their passion, humanity, and willingness to act. Here you'll meet:

• A former NFL player who offers personal training to wounded veterans
• A young activist who stopped the world's largest trash incinerator from being built in her neighborhood
• A pastor who opened his church's doors to the Muslim congregation across the street
• A former inmate who's helping other ex-convicts stay out of prison
• A retired sheriff who's transforming the way police are trained
• A small town that came together to provide every student with free college tuition
• A college student who created an app to reduce food waste and end hunger
• A loving father who started a business to empower his son and other people with autism
• A New Jersey man who's helping at-risk youth turn their lives around
• A former auto industry executive who's taking on homelessness in his state

Everyone has the power to make a difference.

These Americans did.

Rousing and uplifting, Upstanders identifies great men and women across our country and celebrates the strength of our core values and the boundless possibilities of the human spirit.