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BOULOS: AGÊNCIA ESTADO/AP; KINZINGER: JACQUELYN MARTIN—AP; GUO: ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIS
FRANKLIN FOR TIME; SULLIVAN: MATT MCCLAIN—THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGESJAKESULLIVAN44 • Security strategistBY MADELEINE ALBRIGHTAt 44, Jake Sullivan is one of the
youngest people to serve as National
Security Adviser to the U.S. President.
Yet he is also one of the best prepared,
having already excelled at the highest
levels of government service. As a
legislative aide in the U.S. Senate, as a
senior offi cial at the State Department
and as National Security Adviser to
then Vice President Biden, he developed
an uncommonly deep understanding of
the national security decision making
process that is now his to manage.
Having observed him up close,
I can testify that Jake is a brilliant
strategist, a rigorous thinker, and an
incredibly humble and kind human
being. What could truly set him apart
as he assumes this pivotal role is the
broader lens through which he sees
issues of national security. He has
focused deeply on the connections
between domestic and foreign policy,
and has said that any policy initiative
should be judged by a basic question:
Will this make life better, easier,
safer for working families across this
country? The Biden Administration has
pledged to deliver for these families. If
it succeeds, it will be in no small part
because of Jake’s leadership.Albright is a former U.S. Secretary of StateMercedesD’Alessandro43 • Egalitarian
economistPandemic-related job losses
have hit women harder than men.
But in Argentina, economist
Mercedes D’Alessandro is
determined to soften the blow
that this period poses for gender
equality in the workplace.
After fi ve years of analyzing
the subject through her media
outlet Economía Femini(s)ta,
in 2020, D’Alessandro became
the Argentine government’s
fi rst ever national director of
gender, equality and economy. In
September, her offi ce published a
report quantifying the economic
value of unpaid care and
domestic work—three-quarters
of which is carried out by women
in Argentina—at 15.9% of GDP,
more than all other sectors. That
understanding of women’s labor
underpins the 2021 national
budget, targeted to support
women through measures such
as expanded public infrastructure
for childcare and requirements
for state construction
contractors to employ more
women. Going forward, one of
D’Alessandro’s priorities is to
lengthen Argentina’s two-day
state- mandated paternity leave
(mothers get 90 days). But
she says all economic policy in
Argentina needs to account for
gender. Thanks to her, it likely
will. —C.N.Guo
Ningning
50 • EXPERT AT
THE HELM
Guo Ningning does what it
takes to get results. For an April
2020 campaign to promote
local seafood, the vice governor
of China’s southern Fujian
province appeared on a
livestreaming show, where she
feasted on a plump eel. The
broadcast attracted more than
1 million viewers, prompting
year-over-year eel sales to soar
by 628%.
Guo has proved herself
equally adept in the slippery
world of Chinese politics. She
is a rare female rising star of
the ruling Chinese Communist
Party (CCP), whose elevation
to No. 2 in Fujian—where
President Xi Jinping cut his
leadership teeth and retains
a power base—signals the
possibility of further growth.
As a former vice president
of the infl uential Agricultural
Bank of China, she is also
emblematic of the CCP’s new
efforts to promote cadres with
fi nancial expertise—in June ,
she enacted a new policy to
provide underprivileged children
with a basic living allowance
and access to education
and scholarships. “Fujian’s
cuisine is famous all over the
world,” Guo told the livestream
audience last April. Someday,
perhaps she will be too.
—Charlie Campbell