Today, TIME and TIME for Kids reveal the 2024 Kid of the Year, recognizing one exceptional young person—and five honorees—giving hope for the future.
This year’s recipient is 15-year-old scientist Heman Bekele from Fairfax, Virginia. He is recognized for developing an affordable compound-based bar of soap that could in the future be a new and more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma.
Bekele tells TIME: “I’m really passionate about skin-cancer research…. whether it’s my own research or what’s happening in the field. It’s absolutely incredible to think that one day my bar of soap will be able to make a direct impact on somebody else’s life. That’s the reason I started this all in the first place.”
–Read the cover story and watch the interview with 2024 Kid of the Year Heman Bekele. https://bit.ly/46N1413
–See the TIME cover, featuring a photograph by Dina Litovsky for TIME. https://bit.ly/4dfikOX
The other five 2024 Kid of the Year honorees include: inventor Shanya Gill (13, San Jose, CA), advocate Madhvi Chittoor (12, Arvada, CO), advocate Jordan Sucato (15, Phoenix, AZ), actor Keivonn Woodard (11, Bowie, MD), and entrepreneur Dom Pecora (15, Malvern, PA). Read the Kid of the Year honoree profiles: https://bit.ly/3Ae3iuh
Of the new list, TIME’s editors write: “For over a century, TIME has covered influence and leadership. Typically, those we recognize are fully grown adults—in the prime of their careers or sage elders reflecting on long experience. But there are exceptions…. In fact, young people are some of the most impressive individuals out there…. That’s why we choose to recognize TIME’s Kid of the Year.”
To select the 2024 Kid of the Year, TIME solicited nominations for young leaders who are making admirable contributions in a range of fields—including social justice, science, and business. Editors and writers combed through submissions and conducted research to identify stand-out kids in the U.S. ages 8-16. Then, as part of the selection process, a team of TIME for Kids Kid Reporters weighed in on the finalists. https://bit.ly/3WB0jDQ
The 2024 Kid of the Year package appears in the August 26 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, August 16.
###
