Time magazine has produced an international Girls of the Year list in partnership with LEGO Group.
The collaboration is to “challenge outdated societal stereotypes” and recognises 10 youngsters who are inspiring communities around the world.
Curated by Time’s editorial team, it’s designed around LEGO’s “She Built That” campaign, which empowers girls to see themselves as builders
Representing Scotland is Glasgow school pupil, Rebecca Young, who was just 11 when she designed a solar-powered blanket to help homeless people keep warm.
Young, now 12, ended up winning an engineering award in a UK-wide competition with 70,000 entrants. She not only came up with the idea, but researched different types of solar panels, wiring, and batteries, and drew up a detailed blueprint.
The engineering firm Thales, which sponsored the competition, subsequently manufactured 30 of the blankets which were distributed to a homeless shelter in Glasgow earlier this year. There are plans to make 120 more.
She’s joined on the list by:
- Rutendo Shadaya, 17, an advocate for young authors in New Zealand;
- Coco Yoshizawa, 15, an Olympic gold-medalist in Japan;
- Valerie Chiu, 15, a global science educator in China;
- Zoé Clauzure, 15, an anti-bullying crusader in France;
- Clara Proksch, 12, a scientist prioritizing child safety in Germany;
- Ivanna Richards, 17, a racing driver shattering stereotypes in Mexico;
- Kornelia Wieczorek, 17, a biotech innovator in Poland;
- Defne Özcan, 17, a trailblazing pilot in Turkey;
- and Naomi S. DeBerry, 12, an organ donation advocate and children’s book author in the United States.
“At TIME, we’ve long believed that leadership has no age requirement. 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,” said TIME CEO Jessica Sibley.
“Thanks to our partnership with the LEGO Group, we are proud to spotlight those who are turning imagination into real-world impact.”
Additionally, the LEGO Group and content studio, TIME Studios, created a limited-edition animated TIME cover, reimagining this year’s Girls of the Year as LEGO Minifigures.
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LEGO’s campaign comes following a recent study which found that the term “Building” had a perception problem. It doesn’t resonate with girls. The majority of (70%) young women globally struggle to see themselves as someone who is good at building things. Equally, most parents (72%) feel girls lack visible female role models who build the world.
According to a survey of 32,605 parents and children across 21 countries. Kids are twice as likely to credit major inventions to men – with most believing that Wi-Fi (69%), fridges (63%) and the moon landing software (68%) were invented by men, when in fact, all were pioneered by women.
“When girls don’t see it, they don’t believe it – the world risks missing out on the next big breakthrough,” explained Julia Goldin, LEGO Group Chief Product & Marketing Officer.
“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.”
