70 Time November 25, 2019
JAPAN’S BOLD FUTURE
SHINJIRO KOIZUMI | 38
On Nov. 20, in the midst of his third
(and potentially final) term, Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe will become
Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister.
Many voters already know whom they
would tap to succeed him: 38-year-old
Shinjiro Koizumi. In his first weeks
as the Environment Minister in Abe’s
Cabinet, Koizumi raised eyebrows by
saying he wanted to make the fight
against climate change “sexy” and
“fun.” But he also had an early success
to tout: Yokohama, Japan’s second
most populous city, joined Tokyo and
Kyoto in pledging to reduce carbon-
dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050.
—Charlie CampbellDETERMINED
DEMONSTRATOR
RAFAELA REQUESENS | 27
Once, Rafaela Requesens’ priorities—
among them, scholarships and subsidized
meals for her classmates—resembled
those of many college activists. Then her
country collapsed. As Venezuelan Presi-
dent Nicolás Maduro began tightening his
grip on power during an economic crisis,
Requesens took to the streets. In 2017,
she helped lead the mass youth protests
against the government as head of a promi-
nent students’ union. The following year,
she and her brother Juan, an opposition
lawmaker, were arrested. (The government
charged Juan with orchestrating a drone
attack on Maduro, without offering proof;
no trial date has been announced.) But
Requesens remains undeterred. “I won’t
say there aren’t times that I lose heart,”
she says, “but I get back up again because
that’s what [my brother] taught me.”
—Ciara NugentMAKING CLASSROOMS
MORE INCLUSIVE
VANESSA LUNA | 28
Vanessa Luna was teaching in
Los Angeles in 2014 when the
deportation of a student’s parent
gave her an up-close view of how
immigration policy can impact
a child’s education. Three years
later, the educator and DACA
recipient co-founded ImmSchools,
a nonprofit that trains teachers to
better support America’s millions
of children with undocumented
family members by creating
more inclusive classroom
environments. In ImmSchools’
first 12 months, 960 students
and their families participated
in its programs—which include
know-your-rights workshops and
college-admissions guidance—
and Luna, who was named a
2019 Roddenberry Fellow, says
the nonprofit will reach more
than 1,000 educators this fiscal
year. “It shouldn’t be luck that an
undocumented student gets what
they need in school,” she says.
ÑJasmine AguileraFIGHTING
FOR EARTH
VARSHINI PRAKASH | 26
By Jay InsleeI’ve been fighting climate
change for 25 years, and I’ve
never seen a movement for
climate action like the one
we are witnessing today. A
new generation is speaking
with moral clarity about the
need for bold action to defeat
the climate crisis, with a new
focus and intensity. Varshini
Prakash—the executive
director of the Sunrise
Movement, which has fiercely
advocated for proposals like
the Green New Deal—is one
of those visionary leaders
who are fighting for their
futures. I believe that 2019
will be remembered as a
turning point for the climate:
Varshini and other young
leaders have permanently
fixed climate change into
the nation’s conscience as a
moral imperative, an issue of
economic justice and a way to
create millions of jobs across
America. Personally, I find the
leadership of Varshini and the
Sunrise Movement to be some
of the greatest sources for hope
in our fight against the climate
crisis. The young people are
leading this fight, and because
of them, we will all win.
Inslee, a Democrat, is the governor
of Washington