Growing up, Phebe noticed fewer songbirds at her Vermont feeders each year and became inspired to find the cause. The answer lay in the deforested pastures of Costa Rica that were once stunning rainforests in the Tilarán Mountains. She shared her concern about the crisis in migratory corridors with Change the World Kids, a teen-run nonprofit organization she co-founded in 1998. Her efforts focused on permanently creating a migratory corridor in the Costa Rican rainforest, restoring it with native trees, and inspiring others to protect the global environment. After years of fundraising and educational efforts, such as sales of fair trade coffee from a Costa Rican cooperative, community dinners, workshops in schools, and conservation trips to the rainforest, her group raised $165,000 to help purchase, conserve and reforest hectares critical to indigenous birds and neo-tropical migrants. They named the corridor Bosque Para Siempre, or Forever Forest. “Change the World Kids is about making a positive difference and about self-growth,” Phebe said. “We become empowered by learning skills, strategies, and values that affect our current and future well-being.”