Six years ago, when we launched the TIME100 Next, it marked our first step in growing the TIME100 from a single moment into a year-round project. As we’ve added new chapters to the TIME100 story, our mission has remained consistent: to use the TIME100—our list of the globe’s most influential people, first released 22 years ago—as a lens to better understand our world, and to guide TIME in our role as a key chronicler of leadership. To do that, we’ve taken a wider perspective on influence, and taken deep dives into the worlds of AI, Climate, Creators, Health, and Philanthropy.
TIME100 Next showed us what growth could be possible, and for many at TIME, yours truly included, it remains one of our favorite moments of the year. While we’ve made it our mission to cover people who have reached the pinnacle of their fields, the TIME100 Next is an opportunity to recognize those still on the rise. Not that we are new to that business: since we recognized 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh as the very first Person of the Year (then called Man of the Year) in 1927, we’ve known that true influence knows no age and that it can arrive early in a career.
This year’s class is no exception to that tradition. It includes 16-year-old Elliston Berry, who was recognized at the State of the Union this year for her work advocating for new protections against digital harassment; 23-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, New Zealand’s Gen Z Māori leader; and 22-year-old golf sensation Jeeno Thitikul. They are among the many leaders on this year’s list who are younger than the century they are shaping.
Our covers feature three people transforming their fields: actor Jonathan Bailey, singer Tate McRae, and CEO April Koh. Bailey stars in blockbusters including Jurassic World: Rebirth and Wicked, while simultaneously building the Shameless Fund, his foundation benefiting LGBTQ+ nonprofits. McRae, the 22-year-old Canadian pop star, has had her music streamed more than 20 billion times across all platforms, and is now on a world tour. Koh became the youngest female founder leading a unicorn through her vision of improving access to mental-health care via her startup Spring Health, which is used in over 40 countries.
Our goal with each project is to provide a snapshot of the moment and to recognize those who we feel are truly changing the world this year. For that reason, the list includes young leaders who are working to cement Donald Trump’s legacy—as well as those working to oppose it. It means spotlighting leaders from across the world, like Saudi Arabia’s Jomana Alrashid, who leads a major media conglomerate; Sudan’s Emi Mahmoud, a poet and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador; and Korean Canadian Maggie Kang, the co-director of K-Pop Demon Hunters, helping to ensure global voices are heard the world over. It also means celebrating cultural and scientific breakthroughs: Tramell Tillman, who recently became the first Black actor to win the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Severance; Paige Bueckers, the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year; and Ben Lamm, whose work reviving the dire wolf landed on the cover of TIME earlier this year.
The selection of the 2025 TIME100 Next was led by Dan Macsai and Cate Matthews with contributions from TIME’s editors and reporters around the world, and is supported by our longtime partner Rolex, TIME’s official timepiece partner. The stories in this issue are written by TIME’s journalists as well as members of the TIME100 community. We are grateful to Cate Blanchett, Fred Swaniker, George Church, and many others who join us in welcoming a new generation of leaders into this issue.
“Everyone on the TIME100 Next leapt into action—often in challenging circumstances—and in doing so, accomplished the extraordinary,” Matthews says. “They demonstrate the power we all have to make a difference.”
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