A visionary educator...a headline-making newswoman...the designer every bride loves, not to mention a 91-year-old who's still kicking up her heels: Meet 20 women who blew us away this year.

When her Michigan community was overrun by factory farms, Lynn henning took a stand and got her hands horoically dirty.

Simran Sethi discusses the effect pork consumption has on the environment.

What do you do when your hometown is dying - wheezing in the shadow of massive oil refineries spewing poison through parks and playgrounds around the clock? If you're Hilton Kelley, you get angry. Then you get smart - raising your voice, raising money, and raising awareness as one of the most effective, exciting activists of your generation.

Read the New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof that inspired this report by Lisa Ling.