Time Magazine has released its annual ‘100 Most Influential People’ list. This year’s list features Kenneth C. Frazier of Merck and Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF).
Frazier, named alongside Kenneth I. Chenault, are both noted for their social programs. “Both are private and soft-spoken, while simultaneously being?fearless fighters?for what is right. Last year, in collaboration with other leaders, they worked to launch?OneTen, a coalition aimed at closing the Black American opportunity gap with workforce training and hiring initiatives. This spring, they partnered to mobilize business executives to support voting rights for all Americans, publishing an open letter signed by dozens of their industry peers. Frazier and Chenault show that there is more than one way to do the right thing.”
Ifill is celebrated for her work with the NAACP LDF, “Sherrilyn’s advocacy creates paths for the unconvinced to understand things they have overlooked—and that may be the real genius of her leadership and skill. She is the rare strategic lawyer who has the ability to inspire, educate, and disassemble the distortions and misguided analyses that often paralyze policymakers.”
The Time 100 is an annual list comprised of the most influential “pioneers, leaders and titans to artists, innovators and icons.”