The five Black women on the 2025 Time Women of the Year list
A’Ja Wilson, Jordan Chiles, Raquel Willis, and more are honored as 2025 Time Women of the Year.
Time magazine is celebrating women who are striving for change in their respective fields.
On Thursday, the 2025 Time Women of the Year list, honoring 13 women, was released. This year’s honorees include WNBA MVP A’Ja Wilson, Olympic Gymnast Jordan Chiles, author Raquel Willis, Gambian women’s rights activist Fatou Baldeh, and Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot—five Black women who are all making a difference.
Since the list’s launch in 2020, the publication has highlighted women, from activists to celebrities to athletes and beyond, who are trailblazing paths of advocacy and change each year.
“The 13 women on this year’s list are all, in their own way, working toward creating a better, more equitable world,” Lucy Feldman, senior editor at Time magazine, explained.
Wilson and Chiles, who are each featured on a cover, sit down together to discuss the unprecedented successful and buzz that women’s sports had over the past year, from the spike in viewership for the WNBA to the viral sensation of the Olympics.
“It opened up doors for all of us,” Wilson said of last year’s success. “What makes it even better is that we win—and we look good while doing it.”
Meanwhile, Willis has been breaking barriers to protect trans rights through her literary output, her fearless advocacy work, and living authentically as a Black trans woman from the South.
Baldeh has been honored for remaining on the frontlines of a fight to end female genital mutilation in Gambia even after a ban was recently reversed, while Babineaux-Fontenot has been spearheading efforts to end food insecurity nationwide.
Speaking to the publication about her cause, Baldeh said, “People are talking about it, and that is a positive thing because we cannot end the practice if we don’t talk about it.”
Babienaux-Fontenot noted, “No matter what your political positions are in this country, people consistently believe that people deserve to have access to nutritious food.”
Feldman added that this year’s list ultimately honors “women who have identified a problem and vowed to be part of the solution.”
The list also includes actresses Nicole Kidman, Olivia Munn, and Anna Sawai, jazz artist Laufey, reproductive rights activist Amanda Zurawski, conservationist Purnima Devi Barman, CEO of Bobbie, Laura Modi, and French sexual assault survivor Gisèle Pelicot.
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