Selena Gomez, Björk & More

National Geographic announced on Tuesday (March 18) the launch of its National Geographic 33, a list honoring 33 individuals whose “imaginative ideas and unstoppable drive are making the world a better place.”

Billboard can exclusively share the digital covers for two of this year’s honorees, Selena Gomez and Björk.

Gomez is highlighted as the “superstar supporting mental health on a global scale,” thanks not only to her public vulnerability, but also to her Rare Impact Fund, a nonprofit that works alongside her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty to support youth mental health organizations around the world. “I love what I do more than anything, but to have a purpose behind a cosmetics brand is very important….This has definitely been my pride and joy,” she told National Geographic of her nonprofit. “I just wanted to help in any way I can.” 

She explained to the publication that her mental health was “really intense for a while,” which led her to take “time for myself.” The “Sunset Blvd” singer added, “It’s not easy. But luckily, I’m in a much healthier mindset, and I just try not to pay attention to any noise.”

Gomez noted that she’s “always been quite honest with people that I wasn’t doing OK, and I think by me being vulnerable, it opened up a window for so many people to come up to me and talk to me about their journey.”

She added, “I had been doing this for so long that I started to feel a little vain, and I didn’t think that I deserved all the compliments and the attention—it was just a lot. I wanted other people to feel like I wasn’t some unattainable thing that no one could really relate to.”

Björk is celebrated by National Geographic as the “otherworldly musician offering a lesson in environmental pragmatism,” within her home country of Iceland and beyond, on a global scale. “Every time I do something in Iceland, I always reach out to the environmental groups. We meet in my living room for coffee,” she explained to the publication.

She added, “Every other year I try to pick one thing that I will fight quite hard for. But I try to pick some- thing where it’s actually possible to overturn. It’s big enough that it can matter but small enough that you can make a change.”

Recently, she’s been fighting against open pen fish farming in Iceland, and even donated profits from her 2023 Rosalia collaboration, “Oral,” to the cause. “Sometimes it’s been difficult to bridge a gap between Gen Z vegans and, like, farmers who kill sheep every autumn to eat. But on this fish-farming project, everyone is united,” she said, noting that litigation is a “marathon,” but she’s “hoping that we will win the cases, and we can put them online for other countries to use.”

Also included on the National Geographic 33 are entertainers including Arlo Parks, Don Cheadle, Edward Norton, Jason Momoa, Michelle Yeoh, Yara Shahidi and many more. The list is inspired by the 33 explorers, scientists and scholars who founded National Geographic in 1888.

“With the National Geographic 33, we’re honoring a diverse group of changemakers, from all over the world and different walks of life, who aren’t just recognizing the urgent challenges of our time, they are taking action to address them,” said Nathan Lump, SVP and editor-in-chief of National Geographic, in a press statement. “They all share a deep commitment to shaping a better future, and in shining a light on them and their contributions, we hope to elevate their work and showcase to a wide audience the positive impact they’re making.”

The National Geographic 33 will be included in the April issue of National Geographic. See the full list here.