"We empower national Masai to do the ministry. I didn’t start any of these churches. I’m not the leader of any of these churches. But we’ve trained these people so that they could move out and do it," says Gary Woods, a missionary who has been preaching in Africa for 25 years.

“Just plant the seeds in hope and faith, and you see early fruits that are terribly encouraging," says the head of the Lilly Endowment's religion division. Its efforts, according to one observer, "have paid off in deeper church life and more faithful ministry."

A nonprofit agency in Greater Cincinnati tries to guide young people in their decision-making about sexuality, dating, drugs, social media, and more.

It is a painful rite of passage for girls in many African and Middle Eastern countries. But in Senegal there has been a remarkably successful campaign to change people's attitudes towards female circumcision in an effort to eliminate the practice altogether.

"To have a situation in which we recognize the full equality of women changes everything,” says Union Theological Seminary president Serene Jones.

“There is a whole historical world of women who have risen as leaders in religious communities because they were called to do it, not because someone said they could,” according to the first woman president of Union Theological Seminary.

This award-winning economist is credited with bringing down Thailand’s HIV infection rate, lowering its high birth rate, reducing poverty rates, and championing sustainable development ideas that work in rural settings.

“The idea of the Talmud is that you are allowed to ask questions about everything,” says Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. He calls the Talmud “the central pillar of Jewish culture” and “a vast book encouraging you to ask questions.”

The Boston Archdiocesan Choir School has been described not as a school with a choir, but as a choir with a school.

"These schools are the jewels of their neighborhood, and we need to save them," says Susan Work, president of Holy Family Ministries in Chicago.