If you caught the 2018 Oscars last night, you most likely saw an incredible performance from Andra Day and Common that included 10 activists, each fighting for a different cause. The Oscars were the perfect platform to shed light on the work that these individuals are doing while piquing our interest enough to ask who are they.

“I am truly honored to share the stage with such powerful people. People who work, sacrifice and have fought through their personal pain to make the world a better place,” Andra shared in a statement, according to VIBE. “Everyone’s contribution is important but Common and I wanted to show people who are working every day in the trenches to transform perceptions, circumstances, legislation, social and political landscapes, and bring hope to the hopeless.”

Learn more about these everyday heroes working in the field and changing lives. 

1. Alice Brown Otter

Standing Rock Activist 

2. Bana Alabed

8-year-old Syrian Refugee & Activist 

3. Bryan Stevenson

Equal Justice Initiative

4. Cecile Richards

Planned Parenthood

5. Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta Foundation, United Farm Workers of America

6. Janet Mock

Writer & Trans Activist

7. José Andrés

World Central Kitchen, serving meals in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria

8. Nicole Hockley 

Sandy Hook Promise

9. Patrisse Cullors 

Black Lives Matter

10. Tarana Burke 

Founder of "Me Too" Movement

Thank you all for spearheading the change this country and the world desperately needs.

ActivistsAndra DayCommonThe Oscars