TIME has named Kevin Díaz, President & CEO of Compassion & Choices and Compassion & Choices Action Network (the Action Network), to the 2026 TIME100 Health List of the World’s Most Influential Leaders in Health.

The 2026 TIME100 Health spotlights the 100 most influential leaders in health this year. As the global order has shifted, these titans, innovators, leaders, pioneers, and catalysts have pushed new ideas—from gene therapies to regulatory agencies—ahead to build healthier populations around the world.

The full list and related tributes appear in the 2/23 issue, available on newsstands on Friday, February 13, 2026, and now at http://time.com/time100health. 

Díaz has worked for Compassion & Choices and the Action Network since 2014 and previously served as Chief Legal Advocacy Officer & General Counsel.

Under Díaz’s leadership in just the past year, Compassion & Choices and the Action Network have worked with the Governors of Illinois, Delaware and New York as they signed medical-aid-in-dying into law.

“We’re working to redefine what the gold standard of end-of-life care looks like in the U.S.,” Díaz says. “We advocate for patient-directed care, where clinicians bring expertise, and loved ones and communities provide the support, but patients are the ones who set the goals.” 

Compassion & Choices and the Action Network are charting a bold agenda for 2026, including expanded legal advocacy, stronger partnerships in newly authorized states like Illinois, Delaware and New York, and deeper community engagement. Polling and recent victories underscore the strength of the movement and the public’s belief in its future.

In his prior role as Chief Legal Advocacy Officer at the organizations,  Díaz helped spearhead efforts to authorize medical-aid-in-dying in multiple states, defend patients’ rights in landmark court cases, and ensure that end-of-life care honors individual values and autonomy. 

Díaz previously served as Legal Director for the ACLU of Oregon and has over 25 years of legal advocacy experience advancing civil rights, expanding access to justice, and empowering community-based organizations. He holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Washington School of Law.

About Compassion & Choices/Compassion & Choices Action Network:

Compassion & Choices is comprised of two organizations that improve care and expand options at life’s end: Compassion & Choices (501(c)(3)) educates, empowers, defends, and advocates; the Compassion & Choices Action Network (501(c)(4)) focuses exclusively on legislation, ballot campaigns, and limited electoral work.