Changemakers: Next up was Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka, which offers fellowships to social entrepreneurs around the world. He encouraged hotel and cruise companies to empower their own employees, giving them the opportunity to be what he calls "changemakers." Drayton, whom Bill Clinton has said deserves next year's Nobel Peace Prize, also urged hotels to introduce their guests to innovative social programs in the destination. Noting that many hotels and resorts in the developing world shy away from exposing their guests to the hardships of the local communities, Drayton posited that many travelers would actually appreciate the chance to see progress at work: "It may be a downer to see problems," he said, "but it's not a downer to see solutions."

The actress and environmentalist Marcia Gay Harden, one of the judges for Condé Nast Traveler's annual World Savers' Awards, took to the podium next to present the morning's first award to Marriott in honor of the company's training programs for at-risk youth in five countries and its companywide community programs. Upon accepting the award, Bill Marriott, the company's 75-year-old CEO, quipped: "Thank you, Marcia. Why aren't we meeting in a hotel?" The three other top-scoring travel companies– Jungle Bay Resort & Spa in Dominica, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in South Africa, and Buffalo Tours in Southeast Asia–were also presented with awards for their environmental initiatives and community activism. For more details on each company, see "World Savers Awards."

Environmental setback: A fifth award was announced, and the recipient's absence was poignant. The winner of this year's $20,000 Condé Nast Traveler Environmental Award, Wu Lihong, an electronics salesman-turned-activist who has spent the last 16 years trying to clean up the pollution that's destroying one of China's largest lakes, is currently serving a three-year prison sentence in Yixing, China. His plight is a sign of how far China still has to go in its fight to save its environment—and to build a healthy, modern society. See "2007 Environmental Award".

John Paul DeJoria, Chairman and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems, gave an impassioned speech on corporate social responsibility. "The world is changing big time right now, there's a lot of us from the 60s who are now in positions of power and influence and a lot of our ideals are still there." DeJoria spoke of the importance of creating a culture of "giving back," assuring the executives present that contributing to the community in some capacity will earn them a "really good high." Better even than "the high you got in the1960s."