Actor Matt Damon hands out clean drinking water to children in Ethiopia. Damon helped found water.org in 2009.Three big stars are focused on giving back in a big way Matt Damon helped found water.org so people can get access to clean water Matthew McConaughey's J.K. Livin Foundation helps kids make healthy choices for lifeThe Eva Longoria Foundation aims to help Latina women get a college education(CNN) -- The holidays are a time of reflection and often a time of charity, even for some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
CNN's Alina Cho is taking a special look at how three celebrities are doing their part for causes near to their hearts in this year's "Big Stars, Big Giving," which is scheduled to air 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET December 26-28 on CNN.Matt DamonWater.orgAcademy Award winner Matt Damon is using his star power to lead the way for change and bring clean water to those who do not have access to such a basic staple."Every 20 seconds, a kid under the age of 5 is dying, losing their life because they do not have access to clean water. And it just doesn't have to be that way," Damon tells CNN.Damon and water expert Gary White founded water.org in 2009 with a plan for what Damon says is a solvable problem. Close to a billion people do not have an affordable solution to clean drinking water, and the problem is twofold."To me, the most disturbing thing, not only is it contaminated, but people are walking hours to get this kind of water, " Damon said in an interview with Impact Your World a few years ago, "So, you're forced to give your children this water knowing that the chances of them getting a water-borne disease is pretty high."Damon and White say that charity is not enough and have created the concept of "water credit," which allows people access to affordable loans to buy a toilet or a faucet to bring clean running water into their homes. And it's working. White says that loans are being paid back at a rate of 98% in places such as Haiti.
Matthew McConaughey founded the J.K. Livin FoundationMatthew McConaugheyJ.K. Livin FoundationActor Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila, have made bettering the lives of young adults their mission. They founded the Just Keep Livin, or the J.K. Livin Foundation, to empower high school students "to lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women," as their mission states."I want to find a place where I can help out where it's prevention before you need a cure," McConaughey tells CNN.McConaughey has so far brought the J.K. Livin Foundation into 14 schools without after-school programs and where 75% of the students are on a free or reduced lunch program and below the poverty line.They are students who come from families who might not have the means to provide healthy meals or access to gyms. The J.K. Livin Foundation gives the students a safe place to be after school and the tools they need to grow into healthy adults. The program meets twice a week for two hours a day and is voluntary. The students who choose to attend participate in physical fitness, nutrition education and a gratitude circle."Everyone goes around and says something that they are thankful for. And that's a lesson that came from my mother and the family I grew up in. I found that the more you find something to be thankful for, the more you end up having things to be thankful for, and so it goes well beyond the gym," says McConaughey.
The Eva Longoria Foundation supports education efforts for Latina women.Eva Longoria The Eva Longoria FoundationIn addition to establishing herself as one of Hollywood's leading ladies, Eva Longoria has also made a name for herself campaigning for social issues. She's lent her voice to raise awareness of the AIDS crisis in Africa and sex trafficking in Thailand. When she decided she wanted to create her own foundation in 2010, she decided on a cause that hit much closer to home for her. The Eva Longoria Foundation aims to help Hispanic women get a college education.Some 27% of Latinas live below the poverty line, and 17% drop out of high school. Only 15% of adult Latinas have college degrees. Longoria hopes to empower women and change those statistics."I come from a family of teachers. I wasn't the first to go to college. It was expected, and that's rare in a lot of low-income families and a lot of minority families," says Longoria.Longoria's foundation supports other programs that help Hispanic women excel in their education, and it aims to provide Latina entrepreneurs with career training, mentorship, capital and opportunity."I don't want the Latino community to just be a large community. We need to be an educated community because this is going to be our future work force," says Longoria.
Educated as a computer scientist, my bias is to believe in what can be quantified, and so I understand how confusing "getting" design can be.Qualitatively speaking, however, something designed superbly tends to look and feel better than something designed poorly. Or, said another way: Something designed superbly tends to look and feel "different" than something designed poorly. It is whether the difference "works" or not that determines good design versus bad design.We encounter design, good and bad, with everything we see, touch, and use. It's invisible to most people because it's everywhere -- much like the proverbial fish that doesn't know where to find water.TED.com: John Maeda on his journey in designOne simple way to become aware of graphic design is to try not to ignore the font, or typeface, being used -- which does a lot more than just make a word readable. A slight change in line weight can make the word "heavy" seem "heavier." Formal appears more formal when set in italics. And "far" does appear a bit far....................away when a little distance gets added into the visual equation. Design is a way of adding enough visual, tactile, spatial, audio, textural or temporal inflection so as to make the ordinary feel different -- with the goal of making that difference a meaningful one.var currExpandable="expand19";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.source='world/2012/10/25/human-to-hero-wang-shu.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121025123709-human-to-hero-wang-shu-00024904-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand19Store=mObj;var currExpandable="expand29";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.source='showbiz/2012/10/26/bond-by-design.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2012/bond?hpt=hp_inthenews';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121026034347-bond-by-design-00003909-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand29Store=mObj;var currExpandable="expand39";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.source='business/2012/11/08/make-create-innovate-camisha-hearing-aids.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121108080904-make-create-innovate-camisha-hearing-aids-00011730-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand39Store=mObj;In the early 1990s, my work focused on combining the rigid vocabulary of computer programming with the playful possibilities of art and design. I created a series of interactive works in the C computer language called "reactive graphics."TED.com: David Kelley on human-centered designMy intent was to show that the computer could be more than a cold, clinical object; it could do things that delighted us. Though that work is now credited with helping to launch the interactive graphics movement on the Web, at the time it was marginalized by traditional print designers. Yet I believe that taking principles from one domain and applying them to a new context -- in this case mixing traditional visual aesthetics with advanced computation and algorithms -- is where the practice of design tends to make its biggest marks.Today, the relevance of design is expanding far beyond visual aesthetics -- to everything from tackling global issues such as climate change, to making sense of the overwhelming amount of data that surrounds us. Designers have the unique ability to make information, products and experiences both simpler and richer all at once.TED.com: Designing objects that tell storiesRecently I have been thinking that, just as design and technology combined to make the rich creative space that is digital media today, design and technology together will now begin to help leaders navigate their competing priorities, solve complex problems, and nurture fragmented relationships.As organizations shift from neatly ordered hierarchies to chaotic, flattened "heterarchies," where anyone can "friend the CEO," a new generation of tools will be invented that will allow design and technology to enable leaders to make true connections among people and inspire change.Just as design enabled us to have an emotional connection with a piece of glass and aluminum that lives in our pocket, design and technology together will restore some of the humanity in what it means to lead in the 21st century.Follow @CNNOpinion on TwitterJoin us at Facebook/CNNOpinionThe opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Maeda.
December 17, 2012 -- Updated 1241 GMT (2041 HKT) 
David Gergen says we will be judged by whether we acted to stop the plague of gun violence.December 17, 2012 -- Updated 1210 GMT (2010 HKT) 
Saul Cornell says we need to look at the original ideals of the Constitution's framersDecember 17, 2012 -- Updated 1049 GMT (1849 HKT) 
Howard Kurtz says the media made mistakes in its rush to report on the Newtown shootings.December 15, 2012 -- Updated 2126 GMT (0526 HKT) 
Michael Simon says that in the wake of events like the Connecticut shooting, kids need quiet, calm attention.December 17, 2012 -- Updated 1211 GMT (2011 HKT) 
LZ Granderson says parents are confronting new anxiety over their inability to protect their children in a world of violence.December 17, 2012 -- Updated 1213 GMT (2013 HKT) 
Bob Greene says the nation finds itself once again in a bleak and familiar place -- unable to answer the most basic question of all: Why?December 16, 2012 -- Updated 2244 GMT (0644 HKT) 
Roland Martin asks whether the U.S. has become a nation of cowards desperate to duck real issues such as gun control, mental illnessDecember 16, 2012 -- Updated 1451 GMT (2251 HKT) 
Ethan Zuckerman says ignore those who warn against "politicizing" the Newtown shootings; mourn these senseless deaths by demanding we change our laws, culture to end gun violence. December 16, 2012 -- Updated 1414 GMT (2214 HKT) 
John Maeda says good design is often invisible but it can contribute to reshaping the way our society worksDecember 14, 2012 -- Updated 1422 GMT (2222 HKT) 
Amar Bakshi, a former assistant to the U.N. ambassador, says articles criticizing Rice's personality were caricatures of her real selfDecember 17, 2012 -- Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT) 
Jeff Pearlman says he wouldn't trust new Western Kentucky football coach Bobby Petrino with his dog
Get the latest opinion and analysis from CNN's columnists and contributors.December 14, 2012 -- Updated 1421 GMT (2221 HKT) 
David Rothkopf says Rice didn't achieve her dream of becoming secretary of state, but it's likely that whoever gets the job will face a constant ordeal confronting America's global challenges.December 13, 2012 -- Updated 2249 GMT (0649 HKT) 
The new film Zero Dark Thirty gets it right, says Peter Bergen -- the hunt for bin Laden owed much to the role of female analysts who found key clues December 14, 2012 -- Updated 1255 GMT (2055 HKT) 
Dean Obeidallah says Anne Hathaway's mishap makes us wonder if we are being played for idiots by celebrities seeking attention December 13, 2012 -- Updated 2213 GMT (0613 HKT) 
Nelson Lichtenstein: President Obama and the Democrats need to defend trade unionism in its hour of need. December 13, 2012 -- Updated 1259 GMT (2059 HKT) 
Howard Kurtz says the new film "Zero Dark Thirty" is going to make a hero of a hard-charging woman who helped drive the hunt for bin Laden, but her name is a secret. December 13, 2012 -- Updated 1431 GMT (2231 HKT) 
Penn Jillette describes how The Monkees might offer strategy in the war on Christmas. But for a war, it's pretty harmless. December 13, 2012 -- Updated 1802 GMT (0202 HKT) 
The actor says Morocco has been abusing the human rights of about 200,000 Sahrawi people, and the international community should exert pressure to stop it.December 13, 2012 -- Updated 1314 GMT (2114 HKT) 
Gene Seymour says "Beauty" seemed somehow an insufficient description for the sounds that came from Ravi Shankar's sitar in a concert hall. December 13, 2012 -- Updated 2205 GMT (0605 HKT) 
Joe Cirincione: North Korea's successful launch of a satellite is a major feat, but it is not a serious military threat to other nations. 
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