Naomi Osaka
Tennis player and activist
Osaka is 23 years old and a four-time Grand Slam champion. The Japanese-
Haitan-American athlete’s talent earned her a platform – and she’s using it
for good. She recently invested in and became joint owner of North Carolina
Courage, a US women’s football team, with an understanding that her own
sport is one of the few paying men and women equally. Football definitely
doesn’t, so she was motivated to make change from the inside. Osaka has long
used her profile to bring attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, and
made headlines during last year’s US Open by wearing masks which named
black victims of police violence. When reporters asked what message she was
trying to send, Osaka said: “What was the message that you got? That was more
the question. I feel like the point is to make people start talking.”Fatima-Zahra
Ibrahim
Co-executive director,
Green New Deal
Going green isn’t limited to cutting down on fossil
fuels. It means ensuring the least well-off are as
protected from the climate crisis as the wealthy,
demanding the end of poverty and helping everyone
into decent housing and secure work. That’s what the
Green New Deal movement set out for in 2019, and
28-year-old Ibrahim uses her experience as a climate
activist and social justice campaigner to achieve
solidarity around the globe.Professor Sarah
Gilbert
Oxford/AstraZeneca
Covid-19 vaccine architect
The Oxford Covid-19 vaccine is being
rolled out to millions across the UK, and
the world, at this very moment. It’s largely
thanks to a team of scientists at Oxford
University, led by Professor Sarah Gilbert.
She told the BBC the vaccine was “pretty
much designed” in February 2020. Months
later, it would be found to give around 70
per cent protection from illness after one
dose and, crucially, it’s relatively cheap and
easy to store, transport and administer.
The research and expertise of scientists
like Gilbert means countless lives saved
and light at the end of the tunnel after the
greatest crisis of our lifetimes.Shani Dhanda
Dhanda created Diversability, the UK’s official card
giving disabled people exclusive discounts across
top-name brands and entertainment services, after
she realised high costs were holding disabled people
back from enjoying the same leisure activities as
everyone else. She is also behind the Asian Woman
Festival, the first event of its kind, and the Asian
Disability Network, which supports people who face
prejudice on multiple levels.Image: University of Oxford/John Cairns
24 | BIGISSUE.COM FROM 01 MARCH 2021