Featured readers
We recognize that many of our readers are already doing exciting things to benefit the world, and we want to honor them. Some of their projects have opportunities for involvement, so take a look.
Lisette Gold
Dr. Gold will receive the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles President’s Award for the Service Unit at the upcoming Annual Girl Scouts Volunteer Ceremony on April 13th for her work to make Santa Monica Girl Scouts exceptional.
read moreSoula SAAD
Soula SAAD is a writer, producer, and director whose images and music transcend borders. Since 2010 Soula has been developing a series of films on the feminine voice of the planet.
read moreYasmin Kadir
Yasmin Kadir is the executive assistant and Program Coordinator for Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), where she has coordinated and implemented national and local programs. Yasmin is also a 2018-2019 NewGround Change-maker Fellow.
read moreStefania Magidson
Stefania Magidson is the founder and president of Blue Heron Foundation, one of the largest non-profit organizations in the Romanian diaspora. Romanian-born, she has lived in the United States since 1983.
read moreJoanne Manzella
Joanne Manzella is a web developer, photographer, and graphic designer and a lifelong resident of Santa Monica, CA. Because of her interest in history, she volunteers at the Santa Monica History Museum. Twice a week, Joanne scans negatives for the Museum’s collection. She is currently working on photos from the Santa Monica Outlook newspaper. The Outlook was the primary newspaper covering the daily history of Santa Monica beginning in 1875 until it ceased publication in 1998. Some of the stories covered by the Outlook included the O.J....
read moreWen Chen
Dr. Wen Chen is an activist for Chinese culture and human rights. She was born in China during the Great Cultural Revolution and eventually won a national prize at a science competition when she was 16. She came to the U.S. for graduate school and received a doctorate degree in Biology
read moreStephanie LaMotta
Stephanie LaMotta is the founder of Death Row Dogs Rescue. In addition to dogs, Stephanie has rescued cats, fish, birds, pigs, horses, goats, sheep, and chickens. Over the past 31 years, she has rescued about 3000 animals.
read moreMonalisa Okojie
Monalisa Okojie is the founder and president of Upward African Woman (UAW) to help eliminate the poverty, illiteracy, and hopelessness confronting women and children in Africa and within our own city of Los Angeles.
read moreJackie Behling
Jackie Behling is the founder and executive director of Global One Development Center. She had become aware of the problem of mental illness through people she knew in her personal life, and was looking for a way to help. She decided to provide housing for people with special needs, people who were homeless and who may also be suffering from mental illness as a contributing factor. Jackie started applying for grants, and received funding through HUD, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, one of the conditions of...
read moreSheila Laffey
Sheila Laffey, Ph.D. is an award-winning producer/director of documentaries and short dramatic films and Adjunct Professor of Film Studies at Santa Monica College. Laffey has been teaching at Santa Monica College for nearly 20 years; one of her courses is Green Screen: Films on the Environment and Transformation. She also teaches a film appreciation course at SMC’s Emeritus College. She has a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from N.Y.U. and was Program Coordinator for the National Audubon Society in Hawaii. A chapter about her work appears...
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