“She is gifted at helping youth believe they can achieve more than they may actually believe they can, and once a child understands that, there is nothing that can deter their drive to succeed.”—Brigitte Griswold, the Nature Conservancy

Gladys Ruiz, 33, grew up in Ne… read morew York City public housing in the 1980s. In 2005, Ruiz moved to Portland, where she now serves as the Audubon Society of Portland’s eastside conservation education coordinator. But for the first 21 years of her life she was afraid of birds. When she was 19, she worked as a coastal steward for a nature conservancy, helping count endangered bird species. “I hated the fact that I was looking through binoculars, trying to find these tiny birds that looked like cotton balls and toothpicks,” Ruiz says. “The colonies of giant birds swooping at your head kind of scared me.” Two years later, she joined AmeriCorps, where she began work with an ornithologist. “It wasn’t until the last project in AmeriCorps that I kicked the fear of birds,” she says. Ruiz worked on Great Gull Island, off the coast of New York, with the common tern, a shore bird. Her job was to band chicks and trap the adults. The adults were aggressive, often pecking at her. But she bonded with the chicks. “You’re looking down at these tiny nests with these tiny birds and there’s that moment like, ‘This is real,’” Ruiz says. “That scary thing is this little tiny thing.”

This prize is generously sponsored by Grady Britton.

“Kit encourages others by supporting them in their endeavours and inspires and motivates others through his creative ideas.” —Sheryl Rindel, TransActive

TransActive, located in Southeast Portland, seeks to improve the lives of transgender and gender nonconforming youth and th… read moreeir families through counseling, community outreach and legal advocacy. In addition to emotional support, Kit Crosland, 26, hopes to provide trans youth with something tangible. He started the In a Bind exchange program to help trans-masculine youth who—because of a lack of money or acceptance—do not have access to chest binders. Men who no longer need their binders, a device used to flatten breasts, donate them to TransActive. Crosland then ships those binders to youth who are in need throughout the U.S. To date, the program has sent more than 450 chest binders and has a waiting list of more than 1,200. “In a Bind is designed to foster a sense of community. We call them the ‘band of brothers,’” Crosland says. “Donating an old binder after top surgery or sending $5 for shipping via PayPal doesn’t take a lot, but the difference it makes to a kid living with unsupportive parents—both to receive the binder itself and to feel that community support—can be life changing.”

This prize is generously sponsored by Morel Ink.

“Monika doesn’t just have a place in her heart for this work; she has a personal, daily commitment to making the world a better place and strives to create space where each person is honored for their unique gifts.”—Rebecca Nickels, Portland Women’s Crisis Line

Fifteen Oreg… read moreonians died from domestic violence this year, according to Portland Women’s Crisis Line. PWCL hosts a 24-hour phone line for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Over the phone, survivors find immediate intervention, safety planning and connections to resources. “A lot of time when a person is fleeing domestic violence that means leaving their home,” Monika Weitzel, a PWCL direct service advocate, says. “The No. 1 cause of houselessness for women is domestic violence.” Weitzel’s personal experiences with sexual and domestic abuse have led her on a mission to provide support for other survivors. She first volunteered at Rosehaven, a shelter for women and children, where she says many women told her their houselessness was a result of their abuse. She wanted to find a place to work on the root of the problem. “When I asked these women where they sought support around these issues, the answer was PWCL every time,” Weitzel says. In addition to answering the crisis line and responding to the hospital, Weitzel, 28, provides one-on-one support to survivors experiencing houselessness. “I found what I want to do with my life, for sure,” she says.

This prize is generously sponsored by Davis Wright Tremaine.

“Her commitment to the nonprofit world is highly personal: She firmly believes that our community needs citizens who are dedicated to the common good. She takes the responsibility seriously.” —Faith Danforth, Mercy Corps

At a young age, Kristin “Minka” Wallace lost her fath… read moreer to suicide and subsequently became a mom at 14. “There was a department at PSU that sponsored my daughter and me for Christmas,” Wallace says. “I still have the running shoes today.” While Wallace wants to give back, her plan isn’t to break even. She wants to make Portland a better place to live for her daughter. As the development associate for the Library Foundation, Wallace runs the summer reading program, which encourages kids to read outside the classroom. “There are few institutions in modern society that are able to bring together people young and old, rich and poor, speaking a myriad of languages,” Wallace says. “But the library does all of that. No one is turned away. And many leave with the tools they need to build a better future for themselves.” Wallace says many people her age don’t fully understand the role the library holds in our community. “Google can’t answer every question,” she says. In addition to lending books on how to make a terrarium or knit, the library hosts classes to help hone job interview skills. “It’s a place you can walk away from feeling like the richest person alive,” Wallace says.

This prize is generously sponsored by Intel.