They are the doers and the dreamers, the truth tellers and the trendsetters. For the third year in a row, Fast Company asked our readers to tell us about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The results were overwhelming. More than 1,650 entries--the most we've ever received--poured in from around the world, generating more than 15,000 comments online. The range of entrants was remarkable, from heads of multinational corporations to garage inventors. Follow along with the winners for a year, and trace an inspirational chronicle of creativity, struggle, and triumph.
MEET THE WINNER'S OF THIS YEAR'S FAST 50
| January 1, 2003 | Pursuing a Higher Calling Father Bernard McCoy Abbey Steward of Temporal Affairs and CEO, LaserMonks.com |
| January 1, 2003 | Going for Growth Ping Fu President and CEO, Raindrop Geomagic |
| January 6, 2003 | Sticking to a Vision Randy Boudouris CEO, MagnetNotes Ltd. |
| January 8, 2003 | Saving Kids' Lives Robert Jechart CEO, RJE Technology |
| January 11, 2003 | Marketing with a Whisper Neal Stewart Senior Brand Manager, Pabst Brewing Co. |
| January 21, 2003 | Cooking Up Fresh Ideas Steve Ells Founder and CEO, Chipotle |
| January 21, 2003 | Sniffing Out Trouble Bogdan Maglich CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, HiEnergy Technologies Inc. |
| January 31, 2003 | Making Ready Lieutenant Colonel Donald Donahue Medical Operations Officer, Office of the Chief, Army Reserve |
| February 21, 2003 | Improving Quality Margaret Blohm Nanotechnology Program Leader, General Electric |
| March 3, 2003 | Putting Information Technology To Work Greg Baroni President, Global Public Sector, Unisys |
| March 15, 2003 | Giving Voice Ben and Mena Trott Founders, Six Apart |
| March 20, 2003 | Designing for the Future Cameron Sinclair Founder and executive director, Architecture for Humanity |
| April 12, 2003 | Driving for Success Elaine Hodgson President, Incredible Technologies Inc. |
| April 17, 2003 | Getting Beneath the Surface Dale Setlak Chief Technology Officer, AuthenTec Inc. |
| April 28, 2003 | Building an Information Gold Mine Paul Zullo CEO, Muze |
| May 12, 2003 | Refreshing a Category J. Darius Bikoff Founder and CEO, Energy Brands Inc. |
| May 13, 2003 | Cleaning Up Rick Terrien President, Universal Separators Inc. |
| June 11, 2003 | Acting with Courage Noreen Harrington Former Executive, Stern Asset Management |
| June 11, 2003 | Creating A Spectacle Emile Aarts Vice President of Research, Philips Electronics |
| June 12, 2003 | Putting Your Best Foot Forward Ken Block and Damon Way Cofounders, DC Shoes Inc. |
| June 17, 2003 | Trusting Your Instincts Asya Muchnick Editor, Little, Brown & Co. |
| June 19, 2003 | Turning--and Saving--a Leaf Jeff Mendelsohn CEO and COfounder, New Leaf Paper |
| July 1, 2003 | Making Smart Material Bill Flowers CEO, ETREMA Products Inc. |
| July 8, 2003 | Channeling Energy Luca Bentivoglio Executive Director, Latino Public Broadcasting |
| August 1, 2003 | Making Constant Improvements Jeffrey Hollender CEO, Seventh Generation |
| August 7, 2003 | Stretching an Idea Steve Alexander President and COO, Integrated Medical Systems Inc. |
| August 12, 2003 | Offering That Personal Touch Robert LoCascio CEO, LivePerson |
| August 14, 2003 | Applying Energy Mary Powell Senior Vice President and COO, Green Mountain Power Corp. |
| August 14, 2003 | Shedding New Light Fabio Rosa Founder, Agroeletro Sistema de Tecnologia Adequada |
| August 14, 2003 | Supporting Bright Ideas William Drayton Jr. CEO, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public |
| August 21, 2003 | Gunning For The Honor Roll Mark S. Wrighton Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis |
| August 28, 2003 | Preserving Precious Assets David Kravitz Founder and CEO, Organ Recovery Systems |
| August 30, 2003 | Dishing Up Results Bob Page CEO, Replacements Ltd. |
| September 9, 2003 | Setting an Expiration Date Alan Blaustein CEO, Flexplay Technologies Inc. |
| September 10, 2003 | Cushioning A Blow Michael Novick CEO, CMI Enterprises Inc. |
| September 24, 2003 | Inventing A Better Way James Dyson Founder and inventor, Dyson Ltd. |
| October 16, 2003 | Partnering For Profit Joseph Tucci President and CEO, EMC Corp. |
| October 26, 2003 | Raising The Bar (Code) Sanjay Sarma MIT Professor and Founder, MIT/Auto-ID Center |
| November 3, 2003 | Scouting For Insights Ron Pompei Pompei A.D. |
| November 4, 2003 | Changing The Game Richard Marks Special Projects Manager, R&D, Sony Computer Entertainment America |
| November 19, 2003 | Empowering The Little Guy 12,008 Independent Booksellers Abebooks.com |
| November 26, 2003 | Tracking The Consumer Herb Sorensen Founder and President, Sorensen Associates |
| December 1, 2003 | Factoring Growth Barbara Brewitt CEO and Chief Science Officer, Biomed Comm Inc. |
| December 1, 2003 | Reporting Reality Marie-Anne Neimat CoFounder and Vice President of Engineering, TimesTen Inc. |
| December 1, 2003 | Connecting For Growth Michelle Peluso CEO, Travelocity |
| December 4, 2003 | Building In The Green William McDonough COfounder, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry |
| December 9, 2003 | Going Against The Grain Lala Wang Founder and CEO, MLX.com |
| December 9, 2003 | Litigating For Less Mark Harris CEO, Axiom Legal |
| December 12, 2003 | Making The Call Hong Lu Founder, President, and CEO, UTStarcom |
| December 31, 2003 | Thinking Locally, Acting Globally Roberto and Andy Milk and Armenia Nercessian Founders, Novica.com |