The Grist 50 features climate leaders across the U.S. who are tackling some of the most pressing problems of today in innovative and exciting ways. The list provides an annual dose of inspiration, and a reminder that the stories we tell about climate change are incomplete without the narratives of those fighting back, bringing change to their communities, and inventing a better future.

On the 2024 list, you’ll find creatives bringing powerful stories to new audiences, advocates pushing for healthy and just food systems, and tech wizards putting AI to work for more efficient energy infrastructure. These leaders have pushed back against harmful industries (and won), cut carbon emissions from hospitals, advanced wildfire solutions from Hawai‘i to California, and brought together unlikely coalitions to break ground on clean energy networks. They’re teachers, scientists, doctors, farmers, artists, entrepreneurs, and activists who are putting climate front and center in their work and driving real progress.