Reshma Saujani

Reshma Saujani is an American lawyer, activist, and author who has dedicated her career to promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls through education and technology. She founded Girls Who Code, a non-profit organization that teaches girls computer science skills and encourages gender diversity in the tech industry. Her work has earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as one of Fortune’s “World’s Greatest Leaders” and being named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People.” her bestselling book, Pay UP: The Future of Women and Work confronts the “big lie” of corporate feminism and presents a bold plan to address the burnout and inequity harming America’s working women.

Ayisha Siddiqa is a 24-yearold Pakistani human rights and climate defender who co-founded Polluters Out, a global youth activist coalition, and Fossil Free University, an activism training course. She has felt the effects of climate change throughout her entire life—from the death of her grandparents due to polluted water in their community to the impact of floods in Pakistan in 2012. Her work focuses on uplifting the rights of marginalized communities while holding polluting companies accountable at the international level. She is currently a research scholar at NYU School of Law. Siddiqa was recently named a Time Magazine Woman of the Year.

Mikaela Shiffrin, the most decorated female skier of all time, has won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, including gold in slalom at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. She also is known for her fierce determination and unparalleled technical ability on the slopes. In 2020, her father died in an accident, and she has been open about her struggles in the wake of his loss and what it took for her to get back on the slopes. She is an advocate for mental health, and her resilience and determination in the face of adversity have earned her widespread admiration.

In 2018 Breen Sullivan, an in-house tech lawyer, noticed something: her male colleagues were angel investing and serving on advisory and governing boards of startups (and getting promoted!), and her female colleagues weren’t. When she tried to find similar opportunities for herself, there was no obvious place to go. Sullivan also knew many startups don’t take advantage of advisory boards or fill all their board seats, which meant fewer opportunities than needed. Since then, she’s launched the Pay It Forward Initiative, which aims to enlist thousands of companies between now and 2025 to pledge to close the gender wealth and funding gap by diversifying boardrooms and cap tables. They aim to get 75,000 women onto for-profit boards by the end of 2025.

By now, you have probably seen the photo of Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis that went viral when Yeoh won an Oscar. It’s a visual representation of her status as one of the most incredible action heroines of all time and her work throughout her career fighting for representation, diversity, and women’s empowerment. Yeoh has also worked to promote gender equality and environmental causes with the United Nations Development Program. Her commitment to using her platform to impact the world positively has earned her widespread admiration and respect.