TIME100 Next Spotlights Emerging Global Leaders Transforming Society

Investigative reporters Katey Rusch and Casey Smith filed more than a thousand public-records requests for their 2024 San Francisco Chronicle series “Right to Remain Secret,” exposing a system of legal settlements that whitewashed law-enforcement corruption in California and spurring legislative and regulatory reform efforts. Karoline Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary, brings a combative, high-profile style honed in the Trump orbit and now serves as a prominent defender and standard-bearer for the MAGA movement. Viktoria Radvanyi helped organize Budapest’s largest Pride march despite bans on LGBTIQ+ events, emerging as a resolute new-generation leader for equality and inclusion across Europe. Nina Gualinga, a Kichwa Indigenous Amazon defender and mother, unites women across the Ecuadorian Amazon to resist oil and mineral development and to protect the forest through Mujeres Amazónicas. Layla Zaidane, president and CEO of Future Caucus, leads the largest nonpartisan network of millennial and Gen Z lawmakers to bridge partisan divides and advance collaborative, future-focused policy. Jeeno Thitikul is a rare all-around talent on the LPGA tour—consistent across every part of her game with a strong mental approach—and is widely regarded as poised to win a major title.