steffi graf

Fully occupied with two kids of her own, ex-tennis champion Graf still chairs Children for Tomorrow, the foundation she set up in 1998 for children and families traumatized by war and violence. She keeps funds flowing to projects in Germany, Kosovo, Mozambique and South Africa, which involve psychiatrists and therapists from the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf. Her rare court appearances are mostly with husband Andre Agassi in humorous print and TV ads for Genworth Financial, a U.S. financial-services company that sponsors their charitable work.

Heroes 2004: Love All »

sorious samura

Having documented the effects of the brutal civil war in his native Sierra Leone, the award-winning filmmaker continues to chronicle Africa’s suffering. In order to make Living with Refugees, he joined a family for a month last year in their struggle to reach a U.N. camp in Chad; in Living with AIDS, he spent a further month as a ward orderly in Zambia, where 240 people die of AIDS every day.

Heroes 2004: “Who Represents The Innocents?” »

jamie oliver

Since Oliver opened his London restaurant Fifteen in 2002, some 37 disadvantaged young people have trained there to be professional chefs. Last year, he tackled the junk food served in most British state schools and launched the Feed Me Better campaign, which has sent the issue racing up the political agenda.

Heroes 2003: The Naked Chef Bares His Heart »

carlo petrini

The Slow Food Movement started by Carlo Petrini in 1986 continues to gather pace. Its founding principles, to maximize both the quality and distinctiveness of the food we eat and of the time and circumstances in which we enjoy it, have now been adopted by more than 1,000 communities worldwide. Petrini’s University of Gastronomic Sciences opened last October in Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, Italy. There are now 49 towns (35 of them in Italy) marketing themselves as Slow Cities.

Heroes 2004: The Slow Revolutionary »

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