TIME, the 100-year-old global media brand has revealed the 2023 TIME100 Next list recognising the 100 emerging leaders from around the world who are shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership.
Shah is listed on the Leader segment of 2023 TIME100 Next. This segment also features those who are working to advocate for and expedite climate action and solutions.
Shah was elected mayor of KMC in May 2022. Thirty-three-year-old Shah, who has a master’s degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent candidate in the election and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram for electioneering sparking a ‘Balen effect’ that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring’s local elections.
His campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes — better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and the preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development.
His efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, including in regard to their impact on the city’s poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal. Since coming into power, Shah has also signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to separate and dispose of nondegradable waste.
"The honorees on this year's TIME100 Next are rising stars whose work and determination is creating a better future," according to TIME Chief Executive Officer Jessica Sibley. "We're looking forward to celebrating these extraordinary individuals at our upcoming TIME100 Next event in October," she writes.
TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs writes, "With efforts like Person of the Year and TIME100, we have used the power of our spotlight to draw attention to those who have achieved peak influence in their fields. A great magazine and a great media company should not just reflect the present, it should push us forward, showing what is possible as well as what society's future and future leaders will look like. That is our ambition for TIME100 Next.”
The global media brand is scheduled to host the third annual TIME100 Next event on October 24, to celebrate the individuals spotlighted on the 2023 list.
There are over 50 women on this year's list.
