TIME has announced this year’s list of the world’s most influential teens, with activists, social media powerhouses and major minds taking the top spots.
Actor, activist and Art Hoe collective member Amandla Stenberg, female education activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, Sia collaborator Maddie Ziegler, Jaden Smith, Maisie Williams, Lorde and model Barbara Ferriera are a few of those who made the list of 30 teenagers making a global impact in their fields, on social media and in issues they care about.
Ferriera has been applauded for her unwavering focus on bringing body positivity into the modelling industry and the mainstream narrative, and Dazed cover star Stenberg’s major acting moments in the Hunger Games and Beyoncé’s Lemonade are recalled alongside her rigorous fight for issues surrounding race and gender identity.
Jaden Smith is included for his ability to “subvert traditional gender norms” in his Louis Vuitton campaign, his philosophical social media presence and successful appearance in Netflix’s The Get Down.
Another Dazed cover star taking a spot on the list was 19-year-old Maisie Williams, who has harnessed her major social media presence to talk feminism and the growing refugee crisis.
Other teens included Kylie Jenner for her business and social media prowess, as well as several Olympians including Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Yusra Mardini. Actor Chloe Moretz and Sasha and Malia Obama, as well as the first ever male Covergirl ambassador James Charles are mentioned too. Virginia-based student and transgender activist Gavin Grimm is also honoured, as well as Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo, as the 14-year-old, who has a case of cleidocranial dysplasia which affects teeth development, “seized the opportunity to speak out” about his condition.
