Women are taking over the world and we’re excited about it. Although there are a number of power women who are outstanding in their fields, we want to celebrate five women whose concerted efforts have not only helped the world become a better place but have also given other women the validation they need to go after their dreams.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
She is Nigeria’s two-time former finance minister and although she seems to be on something of a career break since she left office last year, Okonjo-Iweala is currently chairing GAVI, an international nonprofit that supports vaccines and immunizations.
As finance minister, she led a massive debt write-off for Nigeria and generally worked to temper the country’s corrupt image.
Fatou Bensouda
Bensouda is the second Chief Prosecutor in the history of the International Criminal Court and since she resumed office, she has pushed forward its investigations despite intense political pushback, especially in Africa, where leaders have begun to flout the court’s mandate in its pursuit of leaders like Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir.
Elvira Nabiullina
Nabiullina heads the Central Bank of Russia and she has helped the bank remain a model of professionalism. Nabiullina has staved off crisis in Russia’s economy by aggressively pursuing an independent, technocratically sound monetary policy.
Christine Lagarde
She is competent and has effectively managed the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde has successfully pioneered reforms that give more authority to developing countries. She even went ahead to call the world’s attention to the refugee crisis, an area arguably outside her institution’s core competency.
Federica Mogherini
Since 2014 when she became European Union’s foreign policy chief, Mogherini has made giant strides. Mogherni was in the room for the Iran negotiations. She managed to annoy far-right euro skeptics by showing emotion in public after the Brussels bombings.
