The Curry Stone Design Prize was created in the belief that designers can be an instrumental force for improving people’s lives and the state of the world. Our goal is to make the talents of leading designers available to broader segments of society and to inspire the next generation of designers to harness their ingenuity and craft for social good. More info

Hsieh Ying-Chun is a leading Taiwanese architect who for over a decade has deployed his talents in rural areas that have been decimated by natural disaster. Hsieh works throughout Asia, training villagers to build locally appropriate dwellings in response to the devastation of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the 1999 Nantou earthquake and the 2009 Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. Through Hsieh's hands-on education process, villagers literally reconstruct their own community foundation, knowing they will live in buildings with greater safety, structural integrity, and sustainability.More info

Atelier d'Architecture Autogérée is a collective of architects, designers and social scientists who transform urban spaces through collaborative, localized endeavors. Founded by Franco-Romanian architects Constantin Petcou and Doina Petrescu in 2001, AAA has become an engine for engaging citizens in shaping their own cities through building, farming and artistic intervention. AAA acts as a creative instigator, empowering local communities to carry out and sustain their own ideas for urban regeneration.More info

FrontlineSMS was founded by Ken Banks in 2005 to enable effective communications channels for communities in the developing world. FrontlineSMS leverages the ubiquity of mobile phones and familiarity of text messaging to turn an offline laptop into a communication hub. The simple innovation empowers villagers, aid agencies, and news services to exchange information among groups easily. More info

Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) has been awarded the 2010 Curry Stone Design Prize for development of a locally produced product that enhances women's dignity. In numerous developing countries, the stigma of menstruation is exacerbated by the lack of adequate, affordable sanitary devices, often keeping girls and women away from school and work for many weeks a year. More info

ELEMENTAL, a Chilean design firm and self described "Do Tank" has raised the bar for public housing in the developing world with its transformative design for Iquique's Quinta Monroy shantytown. More info

Maya Pedal is a nonprofit organization that invents and builds "Bicimaquinas," – pedal-powered machines made from used bicycles that make agricultural and household tasks faster and easier for rural residents with limited access to gas and electricity. More info

A bold and ambitious public works plan for the Colombian city of Medellín that helped revitalize its poorest neighborhoods and transform what was considered the deadliest city in the world into a vibrant, urban hub is the winner of the 2009 Curry Stone Design Prize. More info

The "handmade" village schools and single-family homes designed by Anna Heringer in rural Bangladesh are an elegant blend of old and new, bucking the growing trend toward cement and steel buildings in the region by offering a sustainable alternative. More info

The Transition Network is an international, community-led response to global warming and declining oil reserves. More info

Luyanda Mphahlwa is the creative force behind MMA Architects, a firm on the vanguard of a new wave of designers that is reshaping and reenvisioning South Africa's post-apartheid architectural landscape. More info

Shawn Frayne is an entrepreneur and the inventor of the world's first non-turbine wind-powered generator, a new technology that has enormous potential to help people in poor communities power lamps, keep small vaccine refrigerators cool, and charge cell phones for relatively little cost. More info

Wes Janz is an architect and associate professor of architecture at Ball State University whose practice and teachings focus on the transformative potential of "leftover spaces," the slum dwellings, squatter towns and refugee settlements that house 1 billion of the world's poor. More info

Marjetica Potrč is an artist and architect who works with local communities to devise sustainable solutions for quality-of-life issues affecting people in informal cities. More info

Antonio Scarponi is an architect whose interdisciplinary projects use elements from architecture, multimedia arts and design to "jam" the conventional social order of contemporary society. More info