The hard work of getting to 50
You know what they say: the third time's the charm. We knew from the lessons of the 2022 and 2023 lists that we wanted to get more voices in the room.
So for the first time ever, we opened nominations widely to our audience. And we didn't just ask for names — we wanted to hear stories. What was it about these people that inspired you? How were they making their mark? Those responses showed us sides of these changemakers we might have missed just looking at their résumés or LinkedIn profiles.
And, man, did y'all give us nominations! Before we knew it, we had hundreds of names to sift through. The challenge of approaching a list with that community mindset is that it quickly becomes difficult to narrow down such a large, impressive list to just 50. It's a process we take a lot of pride in, but we're not afraid to make a few tweaks to improve the nature of the list.
The editors of the Future Perfect team also had some serious conversations about the scope of the list: Should we be more imaginative? Open to celebrities, even if we hadn't included them in the past? What about politicians?
We decided that we would be more creative when it came to determining impact. That meant more candidates whose effect can be measured on the discourse, whether on animal welfare (musician Billie Eilish) or the future of humanity (Three-Body Problem author Liu Cixin).
However, if you've been a dedicated Future Perfect (or Vox!) reader, you might notice that this collection of stories looks more ambitious than anything we've ever done before. We wanted to ensure that readers could immerse themselves in the world of Future Perfect, and play along. You can find out which Future Perfect 50 honoree you're most like with this quiz, or you can randomly be taken to an honoree's page. Or you can check it out the old-fashioned way, by category. Each path gives you a different glimpse into the remarkable work happening right now to build a better future.
We know that the world is tough out there, from devastating climate disasters to growing threats to democracy. But for every major challenge we face, there are brilliant, dedicated people working on solutions.
From researchers like Daniel Kokotajlo ensuring AI benefits humanity to scientists like David Keith researching extreme solutions to climate change, from mind-bending thinkers like Alison Gopnik to globe-trotting humanitarians like José Andrés — these are the people turning hope into action, and action into progress. We think the Future Perfect 50 will help shine a light to a path for a better future.
—Izzie Ramirez, deputy editor
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