Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC, has been named to the second annual TIME100 Philanthropy list, which recognises figures shaping the future of giving.
The full list will appear in the May 25, 2026 issue of TIME, available on newsstands tomorrow and online now.
“Following last year’s drastic cuts in foreign aid spending, some people have called for a better model for global aid,” TIME noted. “BRAC, and its executive director Asif Saleh, might have an answer. While BRAC has certainly been affected by aid cuts, it’s been able to weather them thanks, in part, to its diversified funding strategy… This hybrid model mirrors its ‘whatever it takes’ philosophy on development.”
In response to the recognition, Asif said, “This recognition belongs to the people across Asia and Africa who have partnered with us over the past half a century, and our staff, who work tirelessly to improve the lives of the people in their communities every day.”
The TIME100 Philanthropy list recognises 100 individuals reimagining how giving can drive change. The list includes philanthropists such as Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, MacKenzie Scott, and Susan Dell and Michael Dell.
Asif was recognised in the Leaders category alongside Rajiv J Shah, Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba, and Lionel Messi.
“We are at an inflection point as a world. Extreme poverty is rising again, conflict is fracturing supply chains, and an affordability crisis is pushing millions back below the poverty line. These are symptoms of a world that has not been ambitious enough about equality,” he said.
“We cannot respond with more of the same. What this moment demands is a fundamentally greater ambition: to build a world that is genuinely more equal for all. It also demands a different way of pursuing it: one that recognises people as the agents of their own change, not its beneficiaries,” he added.
Asif will travel to New York to attend the TIME100 Impact Dinner: “Leaders Shaping the Future of Philanthropy” on May 21, joining global philanthropists and development leaders.
