2 Arizona women make Time list of 100 most influential people for 2023
Apr 17, 2023, 10:34 AM | Updated: 10:39 am
From left, Cindy McCain and Brittney Griner (Getty Images Photos)
(Getty Images Photos)
PHOENIX — Two prominent Arizona women made Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people for 2023.
This year’s Time100, which was released last week, includes Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner, who spent 10 months in a Russian prison last year, and Cindy McCain, the new executive director of the U.N. World Food Program.
McCain tweeted that she was “deeply honored and humbled” by her inclusion.
I am deeply honored and humbled by this. Thank you @TIME https://t.co/eA4KviHYY7
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) April 13, 2023
“What began nearly two decades ago as an annual list of the world’s most influential people has become a community of leaders from across fields, who join together in venues from Singapore and New York City to Dubai and Los Angeles, to spotlight solutions toward a better future,” Time executives said in a piece about how the 2023 list was chosen.
The selections are broken down into six categories — artists, icons, pioneers, leaders, titans and innovators – but aren’t ranked in any way.
Griner is listed under icons, joining the likes of King Charles III and actress Jennifer Coolidge. McCain is grouped among the leaders, a category that includes President Joe Biden, who in 2021 nominated McCain as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska.
Each entry comes with a short essay, many of which are contributed by famous colleagues.
Fellow basketball star Sue Bird covers how Griner’s detention became a story of resilience on multiple levels.
“She was BG, through and through, throughout her horrible ordeal,” Bird writes. “But underneath this story of inner strength is so much more.”
Catherine Bertini, a former World Food Program executive director, predicts McCain’s success in the role, which she took over earlier this month.
“Cindy McCain now holds one of the toughest and most rewarding jobs in the world,” Bertini writes. “By all accounts, she is up to the task.”
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema represented Arizona on the 2022 Time100.
