The Story Exchange

The average student graduates with $37,000 in debt. Kelly Peeler of NextGenVest has developed a text-based platform to educate Generation Z on the perils of student loans, before they become saddled by a crushing amount of debt.

Jennifer Bolstad is trying to prevent Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., from sinking into the Atlantic Ocean. She's a landscape architect whose firm, Local Office Landscape and Urban Design, helps coastal communities cope with rising sea levels.

Most abortion care in the U.S. is provided by independently owned clinics, not big health centers like Planned Parenthood. Amy Hagstrom Miller of Whole Woman's Health is on a mission to make abortions safe and stigma-free. The journey has taken her to the Supreme Court.

A girl's self-confidence peaks when she's 9 years old. Ret. Lieutenant Colonal Dianna Flett is using her military training to run leadership workshops, dubbed Girl Smarts, for girls in 4th and 5th grades.

The women behind U Konserve and My Sister's Closet are doing their part to minimize waste and protect the environment.

Angie Lozano started Angie's House to give people in need a place to lay their head at night — and reminded us all that just one person can make a real difference.

Chelsea Harden's horses create magical spaces where kids with special needs can connect and learn. Hear how she manages the unusual business assets at the core of The H.E.A.R.T. Center.

Tatiana Garcia Granados started The Common Market to bring farm food to her Philadelphia neighborhood. Now she's taking on the nation's broken food distribution system.

Tish Scolnik is using the power of business to give people with disabilities a new sense of freedom. At MIT, she designed a wheelchair that can travel rough terrain, whether a dirt road in East Africa or a hiking trail in North America. And now the young entrepreneur's company, GRIT, is selling the invention worldwide.

Iran-born Fif Ghobadian created San Francisco fashion brand Road Twenty-Two to provide jobs for women released from prison.

With her nonprofit One Simple Wish, Danielle Gletow is bringing the joy of childhood to the lives of foster kids, one wish at time.

In our first "Good on the Ground" episode, we meet Kathy Brough and Anita Saville, the founders of Chelmsford, Mass., nonprofit Budget Buddies. Learn how they're equipping homeless women to lift themselves out of poverty with the help of women volunteer "buddies," who coach them in personal-finance basics.

Hear how Houston pool-builder Kryshon Bratton has used the entrepreneurial "pivot" to stoke growth and create the work-life balance she wants.

How Angelica Garcia-Dunn went from struggling to feed her kids to building a booming Texas-sized trucking company.

Meet Donna Peel and Stacy Ratner, two very different women taking on two very different social missions -- both with inventive, entrepreneurial nonprofits.

Toronto retailer Melissa Austria has created thriving menswear stores that appeal to guys who hate to shop but want to look good.

Delia Viader may make “liquid cashmere,” but it took more than fine wine to restore her winery after a devastating setback.

Jan Erickson was hounded by vivid dreams about a jacket -- so she started an outerwear company. It was a prescient move. Today, Janska sells $3 million worth of made-in-the-USA apparel a year.

For Anne Dowling, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team, successful entrepreneurship means having the flexibility to live a life she loves. In the mornings, she carves Colorado powder and in the afternoons tends to her wine and cheese shop.

Traci Phillips recycles dead cellphones, washed-up computers and old dot-matrix printers so they can't clog landfills and release toxic substances into the environment. Hear how the Tulsa, Okla., entrepreneur's Native American roots inspired her to turn a personal mission into a successful business.

Kristine Jones started a business on a whim in the obscure, cutthroat "flagger" industry in 2008. Then she got serious about building a strong company that, today, has 70 employees.

This San Diego entrepreneur turned “human-grade” pet food -- healthy, artisinal canine feasts you could eat, too -- into a multimillion dollar business.

Female chefs get short shrift in the media — and in many restaurant kitchens. We tell the stories of two Boston-based chefs who beat the odds. Hear how they overcame bias to rise the ranks — and the lessons they learned along the way.

How one woman turned a corporate sabbatical and a kitchen dream into a snack company that let her quit her day job. Follow Dobbins' journey from big-company employee to founder of Simple Squares, healthy snack bars that are now sold everywhere.

If there were more women in tech, would women enjoy better tech products? We look for answers through three women who are succeeding in the tech industry with innovations that address female painpoints.