Public defenders are overloaded, and legal jargon can leave defendants confused about the charges against them. Debasmita saw this firsthand volunteering with the Rainy Day Fund — and co-founded Legal Ease to change it. This episode breaks down what public defense really looks like and how Legal Ease is closing the gap.

To learn more and to sign up to volunteer, visit @legaleaseorg on Instagram.

Overripe bananas, soft avocados, wilting greens — most of it isn't trash, it's still good. Sid, founder of Waste2Taste in Houston, turned his passion for food recovery into a nonprofit and a cookbook, Still Good, teaching people how to rescue "wasted" food before it hits the bin. In this episode, we cover practical food-waste-reduction tips, how food recovery organizations work, and why so much edible food gets thrown away needlessly.

Learn more at www.waste-2-taste.org and find Sid's cookbook, Still Good, on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.

What does teen-led community impact look like? For Alejandra, a Miami high school senior, it's Literary Speaking — a nonprofit offering free academic tutoring and mentorship to underserved students and adults.

In this Season 5 premiere of Simple Acts, Big Impact, Alejandra breaks down how she built her program from the ground up, the challenges of leading as a teenager, and why mentorship matters.

This podcast has now featured nearly 200 young changemakers over four years — and this episode kicks off Season 5 in a big way.

literaryspeaking.com | @literaryspeakinginc

For the last episode of season four, I'm honored to share a special conversation with Sarah Jakle, the founder of a nonpartisan nonprofit organization called DemocraShe, which offers online training to high school girls. Democrashe creates a vibrant community that uses a peer-led model to teach resiliency skills, leadership, and civic engagement. I hope this episode inspires all of the future leaders who are listening to know that your voice is powerful and necessary.

Learn more at www.democrashe.org and follow @democrasheorg

A walkathon is a fun and relatively easy way to raise awareness and funds for a cause you care about. My guests today, Makenna and Stella, launched the Mayo Miles Walk to raise awareness around visual impairment, a condition that has affected both of their families. Their walk, happening in North Carolina next weekend, provides a unique and meaningful twist: walk-a-thon team members are blindfolded and rely on their teammates for support and guidance.

Learn more or support @mayo_miles_walk.

Young people, especially young girls of color, continue to struggle with mental health issues even six years after the pandemic. Access to services and support is spotty, and many tweens and teens feel isolated and unseen. My guest today, 14-year-old Mila, understood this struggle and wanted to help girls in her community access resources. She started MH Boxes, delivers care packages, made by Black girls, for Black girls, packed with journals, fidgets, affirmations, and other tools to support them through tough days. These boxes are small reminders that each girl who receives one matters, that she is worthy, and that she belongs.

Learn more at https://mhboxes.org/ or follow @mhboxes

I think we can all agree that sometimes, a simple phone call from a friend can brighten your whole day. And for a lonely or isolated older adult, that phone call might be one of the only points of human connection they will have. My guest today, Nolan Z. from Massachusetts, was inspired to launch Golden Voice Outreach when he realized how meaningful phone calls with his grandmother became after she moved into an assisted living facility.

Learn more at https://www.goldenvoiceoutreach.org/ and follow @goldenvoiceoutreach

We all know that books hold the key to language and literacy. My guest today, Sahana, a high school senior from Ohio, has always had a passion for words and reading and was a finalist in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She launched the Young Learners Foundation, an organization with the goal of advancing youth literacy with free books and programs, which has already donated over 18,000 books to children in need.

Learn more at www.younglearnersfoundation.org and follow @younglearnersfoundation