With sponsorship from the LEGO Group, TIME has unveiled its first-ever Girls of the Year list, honouring 10 girls from around the world who are shattering stereotypes and building a better future.
TIME has published its Girls of the Year list for the first time, doing so in partnership with the LEGO Group to recognise the extraordinary accomplishments of girls from all over the world.
The list, taking inspiration from TIME’s iconic Person of the Year and Women of the Year issues, recognises 10 girls from all over the world and their accomplishments. The LEGO Group collaborated on the list as part of its She Built That campaign, which aims to break down gendered stereotypes surrounding the concept of building and to encourage girls to shape the world around them.
A recent study by the LEGO Group found that 70% of young women don’t see themselves as someone who is good at building, while 72% of parents feel girls lack visible female role models who build the world. This was made apparent when most children believed wi-fi, refrigerators and the software that landed people on the Moon were created by men, when it was women pioneering all three.
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“When girls don’t see it, they don’t believe it—the world risks missing out on the next big breakthrough,” said LEGO Chief Product & Marketing Officer Julia Goldin. “There’s no stopping what girls can build. TIME’s Girls of the Year is a step in giving the next generation the role models they deserve, recognising young women globally who are not just imagining a better world but actively creating it. Together with TIME we hope these stories will inspire a future generation of unstoppable female builders to dream big and continue making their mark on the world.”
The honourees are as follows:
- Rutendo Shadaya, 17, advocate for young authors from New Zealand
- Coco Yoshizawa, 15, Olympic gold medallist from Japan
- Valerie Chiu, 15, global science educator from China
- Zoé Clauzure, 15, anti-bullying advocate from France
- Clara Proksch, 12, scientist prioritizing child safety from Germany
- Ivanna Richards, 17, racing driver from Mexico
- Kornelia Wieczorek, 17, biotech innovator from Poland
- Defne Özcan, 17, trailblazing pilot from Turkey
- Rebecca Young, 12, engineer fighting homelessness in the UK
- Naomi S. DeBerry, 12, organ donation advocate and author from the US
“At TIME, we’ve long believed that leadership has no age requirement,” said TIME CEO Jessica Sibley. “This belief is reflected in the inspiring young women named to our first-ever TIME Girls of the Year list, who are shaping their communities with courage and purpose. Thanks to our partnership with the LEGO Group, we are proud to spotlight those who are turning imagination into real-world impact.”
To further celebrate the girls on the list, the LEGO Group and TIME Studios created an animated version of the cover, featuring the girls’ minifigure alter-egos and representations of their fields. The animated cover is accompanied by the She Built That! song, released earlier this year to kick off the She Built That campaign.
She Built That began in June of 2025 with the release of She Built That!, a version of RUN DMC’s It’s Like That, and the creation of Brick Plaques to honour female architects and builders across London. The campaign, through the song, the Girls of the Year list and other initiatives, intends to encourage girls and women all over the world to get building with LEGO bricks and more. You can learn more about the campaign here.
You can read about TIME’s Girls of the Year by heading over to TIME’s website.
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