Time magazine has included 10 outstanding women on its 2026 Time100 Next list

Time magazine published its 2026 Time100 Next list, which features leaders shaping the future in their respective fields, including 10 outstanding women from the worlds of film, music, sports, science, and the public sector.

The list includes actress Chase Infinity, singer Raye, soccer player Naomi Girma, human rights activist Shabana Basij-Rasikh, astronaut Anna Menon, Seko Kawata, mayor of the Japanese city of Yawata, WHO expert Marie-Roseline Darnica Belizar, UAE Minister Shamma Al Mazroui, urban planner Sky Duncan, and Kenyan politician Martha Wangari Wanjira. All of them have been recognized for their significant contributions to the development of society, culture, medicine, space exploration, and infrastructure.

1. Chase Infinity is an American actress who rose to fame for her role as Willi, the daughter of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film *Battle by Battle* (2025). For this role, she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA in 2026. She previously starred in the thriller *Presumption of Innocence* (2024), and in 2026, she played the lead role in the series *The Testaments*—a sequel to *The Handmaid’s Tale*.

2. Raye (Rachel Agatha Keen) — a British singer and songwriter who blends R&B, soul, pop, and jazz. After going independent from Polydor, she released the album *My 21st Century Blues* (2023) and set a record at the Brit Awards by winning six awards. She also became the first woman in the awards’ history to receive an award for songwriting. Her single “Where Is My Husband!” from her new album *This Music May Contain Hope* surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

3. Naomi Girma—2024 Olympic champion and defender for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. In 2025, at the age of 24, she became the first female soccer player to command a transfer fee of over $1 million when she moved from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea in London. As the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, she actively engages the Ethiopian community in soccer.

4. Shabana Basij-Rasikh — an Afghan human rights activist who founded SOLA (“School of Leadership, Afghanistan”), Afghanistan’s first boarding school for girls, in 2008. After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, she evacuated the students and staff to Rwanda, where the school continued its operations. Since 2024, SOLA has also been providing distance learning, reaching approximately 43,000 girls.

5. Anna Menon—a biomedical engineer and astronaut. She worked at NASA starting in 2011 and joined SpaceX in 2018 as a lead flight preparation engineer. In 2024, she flew aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft and, together with Sarah Gillis, set the women’s record for the greatest distance from Earth (1,408 km). In September 2025, she was selected for the NASA astronaut corps.

6. Seko Kawata — the 33-year-old mayor of the Japanese city of Yawata and the first woman to hold this position. After giving birth on September 15, 2026, she took 16 weeks of maternity leave, sparking a public debate in Japan about balancing public service and motherhood. During her tenure, she reduced the cost of school meals and introduced the distribution of free diapers in preschools.

7. Marie-Roseline Darnica Belizar—a World Health Organization (WHO) expert with over 16 years of experience combating epidemics (HIV/AIDS, Ebola, yellow fever, COVID-19). She personally negotiated with armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to secure access for medical personnel. She currently heads the WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division for the African Region, which covers 47 countries.

8. Shamma Al Mazroui—in 2016, at the age of 22, she became the world’s youngest minister, heading the UAE’s Ministry of Youth Affairs. Since 2023, she has headed the Ministry of Community Empowerment. In April 2026, under her leadership, a fund was established to support nonprofit organizations with a capital of 27 million U.S. dollars.

9. Sky Duncan — Executive Director of the nonprofit Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI). She developed the Global Street Design Guide, a practical guide to designing safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists, which is used by professionals in 72 cities and 42 countries around the world. Previously, she worked for 15 years at the New York City Department of City Planning.

10. Martha Wangari Wanjira — Member of the Kenyan Parliament representing the Gilgil constituency. She is the author of a bill requiring the establishment of registration offices for birth and death certificates in each of the country’s 290 electoral districts to combat corruption and ensure citizens’ access to these documents. The law was finally passed in September 2026.

This was reported by Time.

Time included five U.S. politicians in the Time100 Next list — The Hill.

Time named the 100 most influential companies of 2026.