What Type of Changemaker are You?

Everyone is unique in the ways that they make an impact. We each have our own interests, skills and personality traits. From Networkers to Builders to Communicators to Resisters to Nurturers and Investigators, we need all kinds of Changemakers. Each and every type plays an important part in creating the change we want to see in the world. So, whatever you have to offer, a better future needs it!

Discover what kind of Changemaker you are, tangible actions you can take and inspiring people who share your type. Then, explore all of the 6 Changemaker types.

Take the Changemaker Personality Quiz

Networker

Networkers help ensure that everyone stays connected. Some of our favorite Networker traits include:

  • An outgoing, open-natured person that’s constantly trying to strengthen and grow their communities.
  • A love and skill for making introductions and making new friends and contacts.
  • Helping to bring all types of people and Changemakers Personalities together over common ideas, goals and actions.

Here are some tangible ways you might be making change:

Notable Networkers who have done awesome things to change the world:

  • Von Hernandez, Goldman Environmental Prize winner and former Break Free From Plastic global coordinator
  • Nelson Mandela, activist and former president of South Africa
  • Amy Aquino, actress and influencer
  • Ai-Jen Poo, award-winning organizer and writer

Builder

Builders are aren’t waiting for the solutions, they’re out there creating them. Here are just a few ways you might be doing that:

  • Using engineering, design, or science to make Stuff that doesn’t trash people or the planet.
  • Starting or getting involved in a community garden, time bank, or other resource-sharing group.
  • Hosting a local fix-it-fair or repair cafe, where people can come together, share their fixing skills, and repair their Stuff
  • Starting new businesses that foster healthy communities and a healthy planet.
  • Helping create a plastic-free campus at a local school or at your college.
  • Organize a hack-a-thon event in your community to identify solutions to local plastic or waste problems.
  • Talking to businesses and helping build out solutions to wasteful disposables, like reusable to-go cups and take-out containers.

Notable Builders who have done awesome things to change the world:

Communicator

Communicators tell the stories and share information that build our power, bringing us closer together and closer to a better future! Communicators have a knack for:

  • Creativity and expression to share knowledge in compelling and accessible ways, whether through art, film, oratory, music, online or innumerable other ways.
  • Reminding people about all the ways we’re connected.
  • Spreading news, information and ideas to all the other Changemaker personalities.

Here are some tangible ways you might be making change:

Notable Communicators who have done awesome things to change the world:

Resister

Resisters are on the front lines of changemaking! You’re helping write the next chapter of the fight. Here are some ways you might be doing that:

  • Standing up to the bullies and bad guys.
  • Practicing civil disobedience.
  • Using your voice and platform to spotlight injustice and amplify issues you care about at protests, town halls, and more.
  • Halting destructive projects with a wide range of tools like lawsuits, injunctions, or blockades.
  • Signing petitions and sharing them with others.
  • Helping other Changemakers find their own power.
  • Supporting fenceline communities by getting involved, amplifying the work, taking action in campaigns, and fundraising.

Notable Resisters who have done awesome things to change the world:

Nurturer

Nurturers support the movement and make change possible by:

  • Providing support, care, and just about every other kind of sustenance to Changemakers and change efforts.
  • Having (and keeping!) a source of strength so large that it can be shared with others when they need it.
  • Being ready, able, and willing to help.

Here are some tangible ways you might be making change:

  • Bringing snacks to your next volunteering event.
  • Participating in a Buy Nothing Group and resource-sharing with neighbors.
  • Hosting a potluck and postcard-writing party, where you build community while writing to your elected officials about issues or policies you care about.
  • Hosting a clothing swap or book club (did you know there’s a Story of Stuff book?).
  • Raising funds for groups doing important work.
  • Creating and sharing an agenda with participants in organizing meetings.
  • Facilitating groups of Changemakers so they can learn from each other, hear everyone’s ideas, and formulate plans for success.

Notable Nurturers who have done awesome things to change the world:

Investigator

Investigators play the crucial role of exposing both the problems we face and the solutions! Some of our favorite Investigator traits include:

  • Reading, inquiring, and learning constantly.
  • Researching facts questions, issues and stories thoroughly until the entire picture is clear.
  • Asking the hard questions and finding the sometimes-dark truths, even when it’s challenging and uncomfortable.

Here are some tangible ways you might be making change:

  • Attending a panel or watching a documentary.
  • Organizing a trash cleanup and brand audit – where you pick up litter while recording valuable data.
  • Researching corporations, plastics and fossil fuel companies, and/or front groups. Seeing where the money flows and how they lobby to influence politicians, or which policies they are supporting or opposing in your area. Then sharing your findings with journalists and policymakers.
  • Writing Letters to the Editor in your local newspaper about issues that are important to you.

Notable Nurturers who have done awesome things to change the world:

Watch: The Story of Change

Posted by The Story of Stuff Project on February 20, 2026