The New Heroes

Hosted by Robert Redford, The New Heroes is a documentary series that tells 12 dramatic stories of social entrepreneurs who bring innovative, empowering solutions to intractable social problems around the world. Major funding was provided by the Skoll Foundation, with additional support from Calvert and the Flora Family Foundation.

See the New Heroes Links below for additional information, including clips from four of the stories.

Courageous, compassionate and committed to transforming society, the “New Heroes” are brilliant men and women who have turned their business skills into tools for change, development and hope. For them, profit is measured not in dollars and cents, but in lives transformed and dignity restored.

Among the “New Heroes” you will meet in the series are Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy and David Green, who are offering low-cost cataract surgery to prevent blindness in India; Maria Teresa Leal, who started a sewing cooperative in Rio de Janeiro that gives slum dwellers a chance to create clothes seen on fashion runaways; and Martin Fisher and Nick Moon, whose affordable water pumps allow African farmers to double the yield of the crops they grow.

The New Heroes was produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting in association with Malone-Grove Productions, Inc. To capture the stories for the series, award-winning producers Charles Stuart, Bonni Cohen and Carl Byker traveled to Bangladesh, Brazil, Peru, India, Egypt, Thailand, Zambia, Kenya and the United States. The original soundtrack for the series was created by composer Christopher Hedge, who is contributing a portion of the proceeds to the “New Heroes” organizations.

Links to more information about The New Heroes:

• Watch the movie trailer and clips
• Visit the official PBS Web site
• Throw a New Heroes House Party
• Donate to New Heroes projects
• Lesson plans for teachers
• Order the DVD set or the soundtrack
• Are you a New Hero?
• Raise a kid who cares
• Press information
• New Heroes in the news
• Girl Scouts are inspired by The New Heroes

Note: As a series sponsor, the Skoll Foundation had no part in selecting the social entrepreneurs featured in The New Heroes, which the foundation funded through a one-time grant with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Although the Skoll Foundation supported The New Heroes, it does not have a media program and is not investing in any other media projects at this time.