We’re excited to announce that this week we started accepting nominations for our Changemakers Network, a new initiative that aims to identify the leading activists, elected officials, and thought leaders who have the greatest capacity to spark lasting change on issues of importance.

Based on your nominations, each identified Changemaker will be invited to periodically write on Change.org about their work and enlist the support of Change.org’s network of 500,000 activists and 20,000 affiliated bloggers to magnify their impact.

So whether it’s Elizabeth Edwards on Health Care, professor Jeffrey Sachs on Global Poverty, Ellen DeGeneres on Gay Rights, or Senator Jim Webb on Criminal Justice, we want to know who you want to hear from. We’re taking nominations on all Change.org causes, and you can vote for up to 10 of your favorite Changemakers.

Check out all current nominations here. These include some of the most important thinkers and activists in the world, and together, with their leadership and millions of people mobilized behind them across the web and around the world, we can make lasting change.

For news and updates from this week in change, check out the story summaries below.

A Book from the Heart of Africa: This week marked the release of “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” the remarkable story of a William Kamkwamba, a young Malawian who despite incredible odds, a lack of formal education and the worst famine his country had seen for decades, built his dreams in the form of a windmill. Several Change.org team members including Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore had the pleasure of meeting William recently, and for anyone looking for a story of inspiration and hope from a continent that has had too little, we strongly encourage you to purchase the book from our friends at Better World Books.

Time to Serve America: On Friday, President Obama announced his selection of Patrick Corvington to head the Corporation for National and Community Service – the federal government’s agency for civic engagement and volunteerism. Harris Wofford, CEO of the Corporation under President Clinton and a former Senator from Pennsylvania, writes on Change.org that Corvington has the ability and experience to help take national and community service — and social innovation — forward in the 21st Century.

Crowd-Funding Reporting: Believe in the power of investigative reporting? This week Matt Kelley announced that we’re launching an exciting new joint journalism project on the Change.org Criminal Justice blog, and we need your help. Together with Spot.Us, the crowd-funded journalism website, San Francisco’s KALW public radio and the Harnisch Foundation, we’re seeking to dig a bit deeper into the day-to-day grind of courts, crimes and jails to find out how this system impacts people’s lives and how it can be improved. Click here to find out more how you can get involved.

What if Health Reform Fails?: What lies ahead if the U.S. doesn’t complete its job on reforming health care? Universal Health Care blogger Tim Foley gives us a preview and it sounds a lot like a horror movie. Imagine a country where within the next ten years 20 million people are kicked off of their employer’s health insurance plan, an America where 65 million people are uninsured, and a land where costs for health care double in dozens of states. This health care system is broken, and it’s the future we’ll inherit if we don’t succeed at health care reform now.

The NFL and Gay Rights: Somebody must have slipped something into the Gatorade of the National Football League. Or better yet, maybe we’re finally seeing hearts and minds starting to change in the wide world of professional male sports. Gay Rights blogger Michael Jones notes that two high profile NFL players have decided to take a very public stand for marriage equality. That’s huge for a sporting culture that all too often celebrates hyper-masculinity while ridiculing homosexuality.

Deadliest War Since WWII: The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has seen more than 5.4 million people die from war-related violence since 1998, making it the world’s deadliest documented conflict since World War II. Despite these numbers, the DRC is often lucky if it can get on page thirteen of the newspaper, if it even gets covered at all. Humanitarian Relief guest blogger Emily Troutman gives us five reasons why Congo still matters, and why the world should refocus its attention to the humanitarian crisis playing out in the country.

Roman Polanski’s Rape: Just because Roman Polanski has a golden statue on his wall doesn’t mean he can avoid the ramifications of breaking the law. Women’s Rights blogger Jen Nedeau takes the media to task for failing in their coverage of Roman Polanski’s arrest after decades on the lam for the rape of a thirteen-year-old girl. If you take a look at the coverage to date, much of the media has been unwilling to call a spade a spade and tell the public that the Oscar-winning Hollywood filmmaker did something wrong. Really, really wrong. And he should be in jail regardless of whether or not the incident happened 30 years ago.

Google Stopping Genocide?: If you’ve got 30 free seconds, you can help stop genocide. Stop Genocide blogger Michelle writes about Google’s new Project 10^100 competition, which allows people to suggest and vote on ideas that could change the world. One suggestion that has made it into the final round is a proposal to create a genocide monitoring and alert system. Internet mapping technology is already being put to good use in mass atrocity situations, but dedicated time and resources from the Google team could take the concept to a whole new level. This is one vote that could definitely change the world.

Top Climate Bill Reactions: Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry unveiled a much heralded climate change bill in the U.S. Senate this week. Reactions to the bill have run the gamut from hope, to dismay, to pragmatic realpolitik. Stop Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz explores the diverse range of reactions to the bill, from those who think the bill correctly addresses how climate change is a national security issue, to those who don’t think it goes far enough in its call for meaningful change.

Sick Leave and H1N1: Upwards of fifty percent of Americans lack sick leave from their jobs, which has become an acute problem for folks working in lower-wage industries like retail, food service, or nursing care. Poverty in America blogger Leigh Graham notes that the fact that these workers don’t have sick leave makes them all the more likely to show up for work when they’re sick. And with the ongoing H1N1 crisis, that means that workers without sick leave will be showing up to work at a place near you with possible infectious symptoms.

Failing Agricultural Workers: In the U.S., we protect people in a lot of occupations from employers’ abuse: teachers, administrative assistants, autoworkers, and more. We have laws that guarantee basic rights and fair wages, and we have unions that ensure those laws are followed. But for some reason, as End Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer writes, agricultural workers are left out of most of these protections. Why do we let bad things happen to good agricultural workers? There are several reasons, but one of the big ones might just have a little something to do with the fact that most agricultural workers are immigrants.

Michelle Obama & Healthy Food: Michelle Obama has been hanging out with a Grouch recently. No, not Rahm Emmanuel, but down on Sesame Street with Oscar the Grouch and Elmo. What’s she doing there? Well, as Sustainable Food guest blogger Mike Smith writes, she’s cheering on America’s kids to grow their own food, to eat locally, and to eat healthy. But she’s not just talking to kids. She’s also talking to parents, too, and encouraging them to make sustainability a family priority.

Land O’ Lakes Cruelty: A new investigative video released this week by PETA shows widespread acts of cruelty and extreme suffering faced by cows at a farm that supplies dairy for Land O’Lakes. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst notes that while the video and facts are abysmal, the problem of animal abuse in the dairy world extends well beyond Land O’Lakes. Cows and calves suffer just as much at operations for other companies, proving that it’s not just Land O’Lakes acting badly…it’s the entire dairy business.

Gay and Homeless: It’s impossible to talk about youth homelessness without addressing one group that is disproportionately represented on the streets of America: young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). End Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty notes that the combination of poverty and homophobia has proven lethal, leaving thousands of gay youth on the streets doing whatever it takes to survive. In the wake of these numbers, it’s clear that homeless service providers and gay rights groups need to step up their game to advocate for this forgotten population.

Peddling Cigarettes in Africa: Higher taxes, big lawsuits and public smoking bans have forced the tobacco industry to largely abandon the West and head straight toward the developing world to market cigarettes. Global Health guest blogger Mike Smith notes that China now has more smokers than the entire U.S. population, while tobacco marketers are showing a renewed interest in peddling cigarettes in Africa. That’s bad news for the global south, both for those that end up addicted and those that have to live with the second-hand taste and respiratory problems.

Longer School Days: The Obama administration is trying to sell the idea that longer school days and shorter summer breaks will make American students smarter. That may make Obama the President who stole summer, but will it also make him the President that made our students brighter and more hard-working?