The 12 most inspiring Female catalysts in the world

Women have always been warriors. From fighting wars, pandemics, and elections, almost every field has been touched by a women’s presence. When it comes to doing something extraordinary, women are not afraid.

This Women’s Day, we take a look at 12 remarkable and influential women of our time. Narrowing down our list to 12 people was truly challenging as each of  these women have all had a significant influence on different aspects within their respective fields. They inspire women to dream big and be fearless.

CHRISTINE LAGARDE
Lagarde was the first woman to become finance minister of a G8 economy, and ranked the best finance minister in the Eurozone by Financial Times on 16  November 2009. Not only is she the first woman to head both the ECB and the IMF, and has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019.  A noted antitrust and labour lawyer, Lagarde became the first female Chair of the major international law firm Baker & McKenzie, between 1999 and 2004.

 

KAMALA HARRIS
November 7, 2020 was a phenomenal day in the history of the U.S elections. Harris not only became the first female Vice President, but also the first African American and Asian American Vice President of the nation. Her list of firsts does not end here! In 2016, Harris was the first Indian-American to be elected to the U.S senate. Kamala Harris is a prolific personality that will be noted and remembered in world history.

 

ABIGAIL JOHNSON
Abigail Johnson has served as the CEO of Fidelity Investments since 2014. She became the chairman in 2016 and has an estimated 24.5% stake in the firm.

Johnson took a revolutionary step in 2018 when she embraced cryptocurrencies by allowing institutional traders the facility to trade in Bitcoin and Ether.

 

EMMA WALMSLEY
Walmsley became the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline in April 2017. She was the first woman to run a major 300-year-old pharmaceutical company, and in her role she created a global restructuring program that aims to save up to $500 million a year. This is one of the many transformational reforms she has championed in the  pharmaceutical industry since commencing her role.

 

DANA WALDEN
After Disney purchased 21st Century Fox for a whopping amount of $71.3 billion, Walden was named chairwoman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment, and served as the chair and CEO of Fox Television Group, making her a leader on top of her game. She singlehandedly handles ABC Studios, the Freeform Network, ABC Entertainment, and several other divisions.

 

PHEBE NOVAKOVIC
Novakovic has been a truly influential woman while being the CEO of defence giant General Dynamics since 2013. She is the only female executive in the military industry. Strong in her power, she led General Dynamics in its $9.8 billion acquisition of IT firm CSRA.

 

SARA CATZ
Catz stepped into the maledominated technological world ahead of many women. She joined the well-known software firm Oracle in 1999 and helped the firm close more than 130 acquisitions. She became the CEO in September 2014 and was initiated to join the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board; a true force to be reckoned with!

 

SHERYL SANDBERG
A world renowned leader in the world of technology, Sandberg pivoted a $56 million loss in 2008 to profits up to $18.5 billion in 2019, in her role as the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook. Like many, Sandberg has boldly faced criticism by individuals, only to defend her company’s reputation.

 

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN
As the first full-time female finance minister and minister for corporate affairs, Sitharaman serves her community in India. As a revolutionary woman, she has also held a role at the BBC World Service, as well as served as a member of the National Commission for Women. She began serving the community in May 2019.

 

MARIANNE LAKE
Lake held the seat of CEO of JPMorgan Consumer Lending in April 2019, after serving the company as CFO for six years. Her feminine and independent side  came to light when at the age of 42, she publicly declared her decision to have three children through surrogacy, and without a partner.

 

STACEY CUNNINGHAM
Cunningham was the first female president of the 226-year-old New York Stock Exchanging, serving as a pivotal point for the traditionally male-centric role. As the President, she took bold steps in updating the operations and shutting down in-person trading for the safety and protection of all during the pandemic.

 

JACINDA ARDERN
Arden garnered a great deal of recognition due to the crucial steps she took to curb COVID-19 in New Zealand. At the age of 38, she is the youngest female leader in the world and the youngest Prime Minister New Zealand has had in 150 years.

By Gurpreet Kaur

Leave A Comment