Looking back on your career so far, is there a woman who has consistently inspired you?
Finding inspiration is not limited to any gender, but women finding inspiration and mentors in other women is perhaps a side effect of general male- dominated leadership representation. When it comes to inspirational figureheads both personal and professional, women frequently decorate the list. Sisters, mothers, bosses, coaches, colleagues and even historical trail blazers all impact us in various ways. Sometimes it’s as simple as receiving a small piece of advice that sticks to you, and sometimes it’s a monumental action that can alter the course of your life. Today, we take a look at women in leadership that are inspiring the next generation of female leaders.
Women leaders of today are tenacious and diverse. They are mobilising the global climate movement, pushing the social protections and dismantling systematic racial discrimination. Although equality is still far off and progress on women’s participation in decision making is too slow. Too many people still believe men make natural and better leaders than women. These women are around the world, changing the narrative, proof that women leaders improve lives and inspire a better future for all.
Since 2018, a record breaking year for women running for and being elected to office in the U.S, we’ve seen encouraging strides forward for females in leadership positions. In 2022, a record number of Black women are expected to run for office world-wide. In the United States today, 41 Fortune 500 CEOs are women; one third of college presidents are women; and the first ever female Native American Cabinet member. As of September 2021, there are 26 women serving countries as heads of state and government- not to mention, the United States has enjoyed its first ever female Vice-president, Kamala Harris, for over a year now. She leads this list of Female Leaders who share their thoughts on what power means to them as they encourage and inspire the next generation of female leaders.
KAMALA HARRIS
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Following the election of Joe Biden as U.S. president in the 2020 election, Kamala Harris assumed office as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2021. She is the United States’ first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, and the first African-American and first Asian-American vice president. She is also the second Person of color to hold the post, preceded by Charles Curtis, a Native American and member of the Kaw Nation, who served under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933. She is the third person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach one of the highest offices in the executive branch, after Curtis and former president Barrack Obama.
“I hope by being a first,’ I inspire young people to pursue their dreams. The number of times I’ve heard the word ‘no’- or that something can’t be done – in my lifetime is too many to count. I’m honored to be considered a ‘first,’ but I always think about the people who came before and paved a way for me to get where I am today. From Rosa Parks to Shirley Chisholm to Congressman John Lewis, I stand on the shoulders of so many great men and women before me.”- Harper’s Bazaar, 2020.
TSAI ING_ WEN
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese Politician and academic serving as the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female President of Taiwan. She has served as Chair of the DPP since 2020, and previously from 2008 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018.
“I think that the society and our democracy are mature enough to place an emphasis on the quality and the value of the individual politician, rather than their gender. Some people will find it fashionable to have a woman leader, but I think the reason people chose me as the leader of this country is because my policies and my values suit the needs of Taiwan today. We represent people who want to have change in the society.” – The Washington Post, 2016.
SANNA MARIN
PRIME MINISTER OF FINLAND
Sanna Mirella Marin Is a Finnish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Finland since 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), she has been a Member of Parliament since 2015. Following Antti Rinne’s resignation in the wake of the Postal strike controversy,, Marin was selected as prime minister on 8 December 2019. Taking office at age 34, she is the youngest person to hold the office in Finnish history, as well as the World’s third youngest state leader after Dritan Abazovic of Montenegro and Gabriel Boric of Chile. .
“My background influenced how I see society, how I see equality between people. But it’s not because I’m from a rainbow family that I’m in politics. I am in politics because I thought that the older generation wasn’t doing enough about the big issues of the future. I needed to act. I couldn’t just think, it’s somebody else’s job.”- Time, 2020.

ANGELA MERKEL
1st FEMALE CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005 and served for three terms in November 2018, Merkel stepped down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union and announced that she wouldn’t seek another term as Chancellor in 2021. She remains the de facto leader of Europe, leading the region’s largest economy after steering Germany through financial crisis and back to growth. Her leadership is marked by her steely reserve, from standing up to Donald Trump to allowing more than a million Syrian refugees into Germany. Angela Merkel led German politics for 16 years; no wonder she was Forbes 2019 list, leading as the most powerful woman in the World (2019).
“Yes, now little girls in Germany know they can become a hairdresser, or chancellor. Let’s see.”
EMMELINE PANKHURST
BRITISH POLITICAL ACTIVIST
Emmeline Pankhurst was an English political activist. She is best remembered for organizing the UK Suffragette movement and helping women win the Right to vote. In 1999, TIME named her as one of the 100 Most Important People Of the 20th Century, stating that “she shaped an idea of objects for our time” and “shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back”. She was widely criticized for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving Women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom.
“Women are very slow to rouse, but once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible. And so this ‘cat and mouse act’ which is being used against women today has failed.”- “Freedom to Death,” 1913
SAHLE-WORK ZEWDE
PRESIDENT OF ETHIOPIA
Sahle-Work Zewde is the first elected female president of Ethiopia and was the only female president out of 54 Presidents in Africa until recently. She took office on October 25, 2018 after being unanimously elected by members of the National Parliamentary Assembly. Prior to her election as President, she worked as Special Representative of United Nations African Union and Head of the United Nations office to the African Union.
“Leadership is an attitude and starts with paying attention to your environment and having a sense of responsibility. You can nurture this wherever you are.” – Sahle-Work Zewde
JACINDA ARDERN
PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND
Jacinda Ardern, in full Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, is a New Zealand politician who in August 2017 became leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and then in October 2017, at age 37, became the Country’s youngest Prime Minister in more than 150 years. In 2017 Ardern registered a landslide victory in the parliamentary by-election for the vacant seat representing the solidly Labour district of Mount Albert in Auckland. When Labour’s deputy leader, Annette King, announced her resignation, Ardern was unanimously elected as her replacement.
“One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow because I’m empathetic, it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that, I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong”. – New York Times, 2018.
SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN
PRESIDENT OF TANZANIA
Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania’s sixth president and first-ever female leader in March 2021, following the death of President John Magufuli. She rose to the position from vice-president, a role to which she was first elected in 2015. In September, she became just the fifth-ever female African leader to address the U.N. General Assembly. She used her remarks to criticize Covid vaccine inequality. Suluhu has differentiated her leadership from her predecessor by implementing stricter Covid protocols, including mandatory quarantines for travelers coming from countries with new variants.

Elizabeth Frantz—Reuters
“As the first female president in the history of my country, the burden of expectation to deliver gender equality is heavier on my shoulders. Being passionate about gender equality is not sufficient and as such, my government is reviewing policy and legal frameworks in order to come up with actionable and measurable plans to ensure economic empowerment of women and other aspects pertaining to gender equality and gender parity,” UN, 2021.
NANCY PELOSI
SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Nancy Patricia Pelosi is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019, and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has served as a U.S. representative from California since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, Pelosi is the only woman in U.S. history to serve as speaker of the House.
“When I decided to run for leadership, people said, ‘who said she could run? Maybe you could just tell us some of the concerns that women have and we’ll make some changes around here.’ And I thought, You’re not catching on… Power is not influence. You have people that’ll have these magazine articles that will say ‘The 100 Most Influential People in the World’ and I’ll look at it and think, that’s interesting. That’s influence. That’s not necessarily power. Power is when you have the power, the ability to make change. Influence is important in making change, but power is where you have the tools and the capacity and the opportunity to do so. So being Speaker of the House, that’s real power.”- The Washington Post, 2016
MEAZA ASHENAFI
PRESIDENT OF FEDERAL SUPREME COURT OF ETHIOPIA
Meaza Ashenafi Mengistu is the first woman in Ethiopian history to become the President of the Federal Supreme Court (Chief Justice). However, this milestone is not the only accomplishment that makes her a pioneer woman in law. She is well-known as a women’s rights advocate who has made immense contributions, among other things, as the co-founder of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) and founder of women’s bank (Enat Bank). Both organizations were the first of their kind in Ethiopia.
“Leadership for me is having a vision and striving to achieve it. Women need to believe that they can do whatever they set themselves to do, despite the society’s pressure and people telling them otherwise. You can only have the power to be a change maker if you believe in yourself.”- UN WOMEN, 2021
ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
FORMER PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first elected President who served two consecutive terms after winning the 2005 and 2011 elections. She had initially first run for Presidential office in 1997 against Charles Taylor, but she lost. During her tenure she was also elected Chair of the Economic Community of West African States in June of 2016. Sirleaf is also known for receiving the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, along with her Liberian compatriot Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, for their struggle for women’s full participation in peace building.
“There will always be those who will tear us down and tear us apart because they want the status quo to remain. But together we can break down the barriers that have kept women from achieving the equity they rightfully deserve.”