CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute is a television special created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make a difference in their communities. The program was started in 2007. Since 2016, the program was hosted by Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa. Honorees are introduced during the fall of each year and the audience is encouraged to vote online for the CNN Hero of the Year. Ten recipients are honored and each receive US$10,000. The top recipient is chosen as the CNN Hero of the Year and receives an additional US$100,000 to continue their work. During the broadcast celebrating their achievements, the honorees are introduced by celebrities who actively support their charity work. To celebrate the 10th anniversary, the 2016 edition had an additional segment where five previous Hero of the Year winners were chosen as candidates for the Superhero of the Year award, which was decided with an online poll.
Heroes
2007
The 18 CNN Heroes finalists for 2007 were (in alphabetical order):
Florence Cassassuce, La Paz, Mexico
Kayla Cornale, of Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Mathias Craig, of San Francisco
Irania Martinez Garcia, of Guantanamo, Cuba
Pablo Fajardo, of Ecuador
Rangina Hamidi, of Stone Ridge, Virginia, United States
Rick Hodes, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lynwood Hughes, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, United States
Dallas Jessup, of Vancouver, Washington, United States
Peter Kithene, of Seattle, Washington, United States
Scott Loeff, of Chicago, Illinois, United States
Mark Maksimowicz, of St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
James McDowell, of Patchogue, New York, United States
Anne McGee, of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Josh Miller, of Santa Monica, California, United States
Rosemary Nyirumbe, of Uganda
Steve Peifer, of Kijabe, Kenya
S. Ramakrishnan, of Ayikydy, India
Julie Rems-Smario, of Oakland, California, United States
Scott Southworth, of USA
2008
The Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008 were (in alphabetical order):
Tad Agoglia, of Long Island, New York, United States
Yohannes Gebregeorgis, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Carolyn LeCroy, of Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Anne Mahlum, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Liz McCartney, of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States: CNN 2008 Hero of the Year Phymean Noun, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada David Puckett, of Savannah, Georgia, United States Maria Ruiz, of El Paso, Texas, United States Marie Da Silva, of (Malawi), residing in Los Angeles, California, United States Viola Vaughn, of Kaolack, Senegal
2009
The Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009 were (in alphabetical order):
Jorge Munoz, of Queens, New York, United States
Jordan Thomas, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, United
Budi Soehardi, of Kupang, Indonesia
Betty Makoni, of London, United Kingdom
Doc Hendley, of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States
Efren Peñaflorida, of Cavite City, Philippines: 2009 CNN Hero of the Year
Derrick Tabb, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Roy Foster, of Palm Beach, Florida, United States
Andrea Ivory, of West Park, Florida, United States
Brad Blauser, of Dallas, Texas, United States
2010
The top 10 CNN Heroes of 2010 (in alphabetical order):
Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega of Juarez, Mexico
Susan Burton of California, United States
Linda Fondren of Mississippi, United States
Anuradha Koirala of Kathmandu, Nepal: 2010 CNN Hero of the year
Narayanan Krishnan of Madurai, India
Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow of Scotland, United Kingdom
Harmon Parker of Kenya, Africa
Aki Ra of Cambodia
Evans Wadongo of Kenya, Africa
Dan Wallrath of Texas, United States
Also all of the 33 Chilean Miners came on the show to be honored after the 2010 Copiapó mining accident before awards were given out to the list of heroes shown above. Kareem Taylor is the promotional voice for the commercial campaign leading up to the show.
2011
The top 10 CNN Heroes of 2011 (in alphabetical order):