Put on your big red hat and channel the jet-setting Carmen Sandiego for a new series where we roam the world in search of social entrepreneurs and innovators enacting bold change in their communities.

First stop on this digital adventure: Latin America. Meet some incredible changemakers from the region who are all worth knowing for their high-impact ventures and their spirited personalities. Learn more about these innovators below.

Eleazar Guevara Portillo, NOVABORI, Mexico

“The most important innovation in my life at the moment is to create marketable fashion products with recycled fibers and to open the commercialization to everybody. Novabori is working with a network of different textile agents that I´m sure are starting to change their minds about their work, they are beginning to appreciate the importance and impact of it to make a difference for people and the planet.”

Emily Stone, Uncommon Cacao, Belize & Guatemala

How sweet! Emily Stone is making global impact by disrupting the cacao market dynamics in Central America. Her organization, Uncommon Cacao connects farmers globally to deliver premium quality, high-impact cacao to chocolate makers. She is one step closer to radically transparent supply chains that drive maximum value to farmers and create long-term meaningful impact for communities.

Feliciano Reyna, Acción Solidaria, Venezuela

Since 1997, Feliciano has been building a network of AIDS Community Service Centers in Venezuela — a country severely lacking in effective prevention — by drawing support from diverse sectors of society. The Centers bring people living with the virus into direct contact with those who are not infected, to sensitize the public and to foster prevention through shared experiences. In May 19th 2017, he was recognized by Amnesty International for his work.

Isabel Medem, X-runner, Peru

Three million people in the slums of Lima, Peru don’t have access to modern sanitation. These communities face serious health risks caused by polluted air and water, as well as the proliferation of disease-transmitting insects. Isabel developed a reliable, cost-effective solution for households without access to toilets. Her company has developed a waterless sanitation system which works without piping or sewers, and costs users half as much as pit latrines. Clean, water-free toilets.

Julián Ugarte, Socialab, Chile

To address the world’s most pressing issues, innovators must educate and empower all people to solve problems in their communities. In Chile, Julian is creating a society-supported movement of changemakers who are addressing issues of inequality. Socialab is popularizing social problem-solving by providing the resources, credibility, and call to action for people from all walks of life to be protagonists in developing solutions wherever they see challenges.

Leonardo Sakamoto, Repórter Brasil, Brazil

As a freelance journalist, Leonardo Sakamoto often found himself taking long bus trips across Brazil. Through many of these journeys, he became increasingly uncomfortable with the intense human rights violations he observed in his home country. So in 2001, Sakamoto created Repórter Brasil, an organization dedicated to to publish reports on and denounce the crimes of slave labor. Through the training of public agents responsible for the realization of labor rights, his work has grown to aid other nations like Pakistan and Germany. In June 2017, he was recognized by the U.S. State Department for his service.

Mary Anne Muller, Fundación Origen, Chile

When a generation of children and youth are seen as delinquent, it takes a changemaker like Mary Anne to develop new models to shift the direction of future generations. Fundación Origen implements an alternative secondary school model for low-income, at-risk children which integrates classroom learning with attention to each student’s personal development, as well as hands-on training in sustainable agriculture.

Oscar Mendez, Conceptos Plásticos, Colombia

One man’s trash is another man’s building blocks. Conceptos Plásticos has found a way to tackle waste and housing problems at the same time. They transform plastic and rubber waste into new housing systems out of which temporary or permanent houses, schools and other public buildings can be constructed. New buildings and houses can be finished within only a few days and don’t require expert knowledge.

Pierre Herrouët, Solar Inti, Argentina

Meet the Frenchman who champions solar ovens in the north of Argentina. When Pierre observed the toxic smoke coming from traditional stoves in indigenous communities throughout Argentina, he sourced materials and organized participatory workshops for community members to build their own solar ovens. “The community has been strengthened thanks to the workshops and they feel able to take on other projects. That is empowerment.”

Stay tuned for the next edition of Where in the World is Ashoka?

Regional Spotlight: Meet Some of our Favorite Latin American Innovators was originally published in Ashoka Changemakers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This article is reposted from The Whole Story: Ideas and dispatches from the Solutions Journalism Network. View the original article here.

On March 6, President Trump signed a new executive order calling for a drastic shift in the nation’s policy on refugees. The order caps the number of refugees who can be admitted to the U.S. each year to 50,000, from 110,000; places a 120-day freeze on refugees from Syria; and temporarily blocks travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries.

The politics behind the order are complex — and certainly worth rigorous coverage in their own right. But what about the real-life ramifications of that changed policy? How should journalists make sense of those? How will global flows of migrants around the world be altered — and what will happen to resettlement efforts in American communities? How can the system best adjust, and what efforts are emerging to help?

In a Solutions Live webinar, co-produced by the Solutions Journalism Network and Ashoka, journalist and Columbia University researcher Andrea Wenzel dug into the refugee crisis with three leading actors:

· Bob Carey, former director of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement

· Betty Cruz, director of Change Agency, which advances immigrant integration and community change efforts in Pittsburgh

· Sasha Chanoff, founder of RefugePoint, which provides solutions for at-risk refugees

Here’s what journalists can take away:

Examine the track record.

“There are myths that refugees bring crime or drain the economy, which are not borne out by experience,” Carey observes. We’ve seen well-reported recent stories that surface the reality. That’s fertile ground for reporters. “Refugees do start businesses at higher rates, they own homes, they tend to quickly go to work — because they have to be employed six months after arrival,” Carey says. “That’s testament not only to resilience of individuals but to the support services that are provided to them.”

See where resettlement is already working.

Plenty of U.S. cities, often connected to Welcoming America, a network of 160 communities committed to inclusiveness, have developed effective approaches for integrating refugees. When Pittsburgh was launching its strategy, says Cruz, it looked to Nashville, “which has done great work in connecting its refugee and immigrant populations to community assets like food banks, museums, and in-language government services.” Pittsburgh used one of the levers that every elected official holds — the power of convening — to begin building a dialogue between groups. It hosted a meeting between landlords and resettlement agencies to demystify the barriers faced by refugees; organized a community forum between LGBT+ and refugee service providers; and helped residents in receiving communities to familiarize themselves with their new neighbors.

Chanoff notes that Bosnian immigrants have contributed to St. Louis’ economic revitalization; and the crime rate in Lewiston, Maine, has dropped in the decade since Somali refugees began arriving. Other bright lights: Dayton, Ohio; Charlottesville, Virginia; Utica, New York; San Diego; and New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Look for the flip side of xenophobia.

Yes, we’ve seen ugly incidents since the election — hate speech, physical attacks. “But we’ve also seen a corresponding reaction,” says Carey. “In communities where there have been these hostile acts, there’s also been outpouring of public statements by citizens and public officials saying, we are welcoming these people. There are people standing up and saying: This is not us.” Chanoff notes a growing number of companies are hiring refugees, led by yogurt-maker Chobani and WeHireRefugees.org, a consortium of 60 employers.

What about refugees who aren’t resettled?

The reality is that the average refugee spends 20 years being a refugee. “So we look to help refugees stabilize where they are and build businesses. In many countries, there are opportunities to do this, and for refugees to lead more normal lives. We’ve seen vast improvements in how people see refugees. So there’s a great story: How do people flee their country and then rebuild lives in a new country.”

Watch the entire webinar above. We’ve also assembled resources suggested by Wenzel, the panelists, and others that can help reporters apply the solutions lens to refugee issues:

Experts, organizations, and research

1. Bob Carey (Solutions Live contributor, see recording), former director of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement
2. Betty Cruz (Solutions Live contributor, see recording), Welcoming America partner, director of Change Agency, betty@sayhellotochange.com
3. Sasha Chanoff (Solutions Live contributor, see recording), Founder of Boston-based RefugePoint
4. David Lubell, Founder of Atlanta-based Welcoming America
5. Jane Leu, Founder of Bay Area-based Upwardly Global
6. Refugee Council USA, info@rcusa.org, 202–319–2102
7. WE Global Network, an offshoot of Welcoming America, comprised of 20+ Midwest economic development initiatives “leading Rust Belt immigrant innovation”
8. The White House Task Force on New Americans report on Bright Spots in Welcoming and Integration
9. The New American Economy Map the Impact database and study on refugees and crime
10. Contact Amy Clark at Ashoka, aclark@ashoka.org, for social entrepreneurs introducing solutions to the refugee crisis in U.S. and Europe

Examples of solutions reporting

1. Solutions Journalism Network Story Tracker can be searched to find solutions journalism stories on refugees and immigration
2. The Development Set’s new series on refugees works the solutions lens in where appropriate
3. Migratory Notes is a pop-up immigration coverage newsletter by Daniella Gerson

Have a resource or idea that could help a fellow journalist report responsibly and forcefully on this topic? Please share it via comment below. E.g., critical new data, breaking research, quality solutions-based journalism, powerful innovations or trends you see popping up in response to the global refugee crisis.

Beyond the Vitriol: Reporting on Refugees was originally published in Ashoka Changemakers on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.