People Profiles

Photography by Eduardo Schneider   We changed the language of our mission several years ago. We used to talk about helping people with disabilities achieve their highest potential. It was about what we were doing for them. But it’s bigger than that. Today, one of the major pieces of our mission is to transform the

Photo by Paul Miller Jonathan Franca is a typical high school senior in many ways. He’s active on social media and preparing to attend college (New York University) in the fall. But he’s also a young man on a mission. Franca is part of an intiative with UNICEF to end violence in schools globally. Working

Photos by Eduardo Schneider   As far back as she can remember, Rachel Silverstein has had a passion for the environment. What floats her boat, so to speak, are “all of the creatures and critters that live in the wild, and the unique and intricate ways that they all survive and interact with one another,”

Since blowing up in 2003 as a pop culture icon through his breakout work on Bravo television’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” Carson Kressley has been on 16-year tear that shows no signs of losing steam. He’s done everything from authoring three books to hosting his own show on Oprah Winfrey’s network (“Carson Nation”)

Photo by May Bagnel Photography As a certified divorce financial analyst, Victoria Lowell is all too familiar with the fallout of broken marriages. And from her perspective, the only thing more hurtful than marital infidelity is financial infidelity, which, she says, happens more often than most couples think. “When you find out someone has been

Photography by Eduardo Schneider I like living in the uncomfortable. Speaking before 600 people I don’t know? I like that. You grow every time you embrace a new opportunity, and I love that opportunity for personal growth. I also love being a role model for my daughters in that sense [Leah, now 29; Amanda, 27],

Looking at it today, with 50 years in his rearview mirror, he’s likely to share that he’s had the winning ticket all along. It certainly fits the narrative, given that he was named after a racehorse that his father, a jockey, once rode to victory. And on the surface, which is where physician Shino Bay

If there’s anyone who can claim that they’re living their best life, it’s Ron Magill, whose job as Zoo Miami’s goodwill ambassador and communications director has taken him around the world. “I’ve put radio collars on lions in the Serengeti. I’ve tracked tigers … in India. I’ve tracked polar bears in the Arctic. I’ve gone

Helen Witty remembers the day she heard sirens wailing down her quiet neighborhood block in Pinecrest. It was a clear June afternoon when her daughter, 16-year-old Helen Marie, had left the house to go inline skating on a bike path near the family’s home, something she often did after school. “I had just gotten home

Pictured above, from left: Rebecca Schneid and Melissa Falkowski Lead photograph by Eduardo Schneider They hid from the gunfire. They ran through the halls and, in some cases, past their slain classmates. They attended funerals and prayed for their friends still recovering in the hospital. They spoke to members of the print media and did

Above: (from left) Andrea Peña and Sawyer Garrity Photo by Eduardo Schneider It started with a voice memo last Feb. 17, three days after the deadliest high school shooting in United States history. The chords that Andrea Peña texted her classmate, Sawyer Garrity, seemed to be pouring out of her on that Saturday. Garrity knew

Photography by Eduardo Schneider Manuel Oliver defines himself differently than he did a year ago. For one, he’s gone from artist to “artivist”—that is, he uses his art to create change. You can call him an activist, but he prefers his coined word instead. He’s also well-schooled in politics, something in which he had a