These five women are literally running the world

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

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director at the World Bank, participates in a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative, in New York, September 23, 2009. About 1,200 participants including heads of state, business leaders, humanitarians and celebrities will attend the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) which started on Tuesday. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES POLITICS BUSINESS)

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

epa04220321 A handout picture released by the ICC shows Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, during the trial against former Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga (not pictured) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, the Netherlands, 23 May 2014. The ICC sentenced former Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga to 12 years in jail for his role in war crimes related to the massacre of several hundred civilians from the Hema ethnic group in 2003 during the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. EPA/ICC / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

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

elvira

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

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), listens to a speaker during a session on the final day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 21-24. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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

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.

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