--- description: Find out why Raquel Willis is one of the 100 most influential people of 2025. title: Raquel Willis: The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbaad82dc5f0ad00/6998c5c593610c0b49c2f8bc/time100-2025-raquel-willis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 16, 2025 # Raquel Willis by Elliot Page  Raquel Willis photographed in Brooklyn, Jan 2024 Raquel Willis photographed in Brooklyn, Jan 2024Justin J Wee Raquel Willis is an author, journalist, and activist whose trailblazing organizing and [advocacy efforts](https://time.com/7216395/raquel-willis-gender-rights/ "undefined") in the fight for Black trans lives have reverberated from politics to publishing. For Willis, writing and activism are entwined. Before she was the first trans executive editor for _Out_ magazine, or a speaker at the 2017 Women’s March, she was a national organizer for the Transgender Law Center. Her 2023 memoir, _The Risk It Takes to Bloom,_ is both a vulnerable personal narrative and a dynamic blueprint for change, interweaving her journey with the history of Black trans liberation. She has since co-founded the Gender Liberation Movement and helped organize the first Gender Liberation March on Washington in September 2024\. “I believe in my power, I believe in your power, I believe in our power,” she told a crowd of 15,000 people in 2020 at a Brooklyn march for Black trans lives. Amid unrelenting attacks on transgender rights, Willis reminds us that true liberation is not given—it’s fought for. _Page is an activist, author, and_ _Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273756/raquel-willis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273756/raquel-willis/"},"headline":"Raquel Willis","datePublished":"2025-04-16T10:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:45:53.614Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273756/raquel-willis/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbaad82dc5f0ad00/6998c5c593610c0b49c2f8bc/time100-2025-raquel-willis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbaad82dc5f0ad00/6998c5c593610c0b49c2f8bc/time100-2025-raquel-willis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2025/7273756/raquel-willis/","name":"Raquel Willis"}}]}] ```