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110 Most Influential Women of All Time

Women have moved from being just pillars in their homes to being influential in their respective industries, from governance to entrepreneurship to making executive decisions in boardrooms to innovation and music, to name a few. In the 21st century, we have had about 26 women who have served as Heads of State in different countries. In the field of Music and performances, we have women battling out with their male counterparts for various nominations and awards. We have women starting and running multi-million business ventures that are highly successful.

So in this day and age, women have protested against being treated like second-class citizens. They have risen to use their voices and positions in society to influence change. Many Women have taken their positions as industry shapers, movers and shakers in different fields and society on its part has risen to acknowledge them. We have women integrated into not only gender-specific roles, but also into what was majorly considered male-dominated roles, from elective positions to appointed roles to money roles and the various impact they have in industries and societies. 

In this article we feature 110 most influential women of all time.

1. Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe is one of the most celebrated people of the 20th century. She was a talented actress and singer. She was born in 1926 and had a difficult childhood. Most of the roles Marilyn played were funny and she captured the hearts of many on and off the screen. Marilyn went on to be one of the most influential women in history.

The span of her career in Hollywood lasted a decade. Her untimely passing at the age of 36 shocked many and was surrounded by mystery. Her success in Hollywood was not earned overnight. In fact, most directors did not find her to be talented. Even with expired film contracts, Monroe believed she would triumph in Hollywood.  

2. Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.

Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth was sovereign of many orders in her own countries and received honours and awards from around the world.

3. Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is an American attorney and author who served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 as the wife of former President Barack Obama. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position.

Obama campaigned for her husband’s presidential bid throughout 2007 and 2008, delivering a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She has subsequently delivered acclaimed speeches at 2012, 2016, and 2020 conventions. As first lady, Obama served as a role model for women and worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. Her influence remained high even after her husband left the office of the president.

4. Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan fashion designer known for her personal style, and for dressing various First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump. Her socialite grandmother introduced her to the world of fashion, taking young Carolina to shows by Balenciaga and buying her outfits at Lanvin and Dior.

Carolina Herrera presents her Ready-to-Wear Collection semiannually at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. Her work has seen her receive so many accolades. She received the Fashion Group International Superstar Award, the Style Awards Designer of the Year in 2012 and the “Mercedes-Benz Presents” title for her 2011 collection. She has been on the cover of Vogue seven times.

5. Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating, Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist, a five-time World champion and a nine-time U.S. champion. She is tied with Maribel Vinson for the all-time National Championship record. 

For well over a decade, Kwan maintained her status not only as America’s most popular figure skater but as one of America’s most popular female athletes. Kwan landed numerous major endorsement deals, starred in multiple TV specials and was the subject of extensive media coverage. Kwan was also the highest-paid skater on the Champions on Ice tours.

6. Beyonce虂

Beyonce虂 is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Beyonc茅 has been noted for her boundary-pushing artistry and her vocal prowess. Her success has made her a cultural icon and earned her the nickname “Queen Bey”.

Beyonce虂 is one of the world’s best-selling recording artists, having sold over 200 million records worldwide. Beyonc茅’s accolades include 32 Grammy Awards which is the most of any person, 26 MTV Video Music Awards, 24 NAACP Image Awards, 31 BET Awards, and 17 Soul Train Music Awards; all of which are more than any other singer. In 2020, she was included on Time’s list of 100 women who defined the last century.

7. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011.

Oprah is dubbed the Queen of All Media and was the richest African American of the 20th century. She was once the world’s only black billionaire. By 2007, she was ranked as the most influential woman in the world.

8. Lupita Nyong鈥檕

Lupita Nyong鈥檕 is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. She had her first feature film role as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s biopic 12 Years a Slave in 2013, for which she received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Aside from acting, Nyong’o supports historic preservation. She is vocal about preventing sexual harassment and working for women’s and animal rights. In 2019, Nyong’o wrote a children’s book named Sulwe, which became a number-one New York Times Best Seller. She also received nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for narrating two episodes of the docu-series Serengeti. In 2020, Nyong’o was named one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Forbes.

9. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O’Connor. During her tenure, Ginsburg wrote notable majority opinions, including United States v. Virginia (1996), Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (2000), and City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York.

Ginsburg spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court. She advocated as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and was a member of its board of directors and one of its general counsels in the 1970s.

10. Catherine Coleman

Catherine Coleman is an American chemist, an engineer, a former United States Air Force colonel, and a retired NASA astronaut. She is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, and departed the International Space Station on May 23, 2011, as a crew member of Expedition 27 after logging 159 days in space.

Coleman was selected by NASA in 1992 to join the NASA Astronaut Corps. In 1995, she was a member of the STS-73 crew on the scientific mission USML-2 with experiments including biotechnology, combustion science, and the physics of fluids.

11. Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington is an American actress. She gained wide public recognition for starring as crisis management expert Olivia Pope in the ABC drama series Scandal (2012鈥�2018). For her role, she was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and once for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Television Series Drama.

Time magazine included Washington in its Time 100 list of most influential people in 2014. In 2018, Forbes named her the eighth highest-paid television actress. Washington has won a Primetime Emmy Award and five NAACP Image Awards, including The President’s Award.

12. Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer is an American Charismatic Christian author, speaker, and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Her ministry is headquartered near the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri. In 2005, Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America ranked Meyer as 17th.

Joyce was an associate pastor at Life Christian Center, Fenton, and later began her own ministry which started as Life in the Word in 1985. She then expanded the airing of her radio program to Chicago and Kansas cities and also began a television ministry on superstation WGN-TV in Chicago and Black Entertainment Television (BET). Her program still runs even today as Enjoying Everyday Life.

13. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. She won the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. She was re-elected in 2011. She was the first woman in Africa elected as president of her country. 

Ellen won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, in recognition of her efforts to bring women into the peacekeeping process. She has received numerous other awards for her leadership. In June 2016, Sirleaf was elected as the Chair of the Economic Community of West African States, making her the first woman to hold the position since it was created..

14. Tarana Burke

Tarana Burke is an American activist from The Bronx, New York, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. 

Over a decade later, in 2017, #MeToo became a viral hashtag when Alyssa Milano and other women began using it to tweet about the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases. The phrase and hashtag quickly developed into a broad-based, and eventually international movement.

15. Rihanna

Rihanna is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. With sales of over 250 million records worldwide, Rihanna is the second-best-selling female music artist of all time. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2018. Forbes ranked her among the top ten highest-paid celebrities in 2012 and 2014. As of 2022, she was the wealthiest female musician, with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion.

Aside from music, Rihanna is known for her involvement in humanitarian causes, entrepreneurial ventures, and the fashion industry. She is the founder of the nonprofit organization Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH; she is the first black woman to head a luxury brand for LVMH. She was appointed as an ambassador of education, tourism, and investment by the Government of Barbados in 2018 and was declared a National Hero of Barbados on the first day of the country’s parliamentary republic in 2021, entitling her to the style of “The Right Excellent” for life.

16. Viola Davis

Viola Davis is an American actress and producer. The recipient of numerous accolades, Davis is one of few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony; additionally, she is the sole African-American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting as well as only the third person to achieve both statuses.

Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.

17. Gra莽a Machel

Gra莽a Mache is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of the former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975鈥�1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998鈥�2013). 

Machel is an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights and was made an honorary British Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries, South Africa and Mozambique.

18. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her songwriting, often inspired by her personal life has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Having sold over 200 million records globally, Swift is one of the best-selling musicians in history. She is the most streamed woman on Spotify, and the only act to have five albums open with over one million copies sold in the US.

Honored with titles such as Artist of the Decade and Woman of the Decade, Swift is an advocate for artists’ rights and women’s empowerment. Her music is credited with influencing a generation of singer-songwriters.

19. Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner creator, head writer, and executive producer of the television medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller series Scandal. Rhimes has also served as the executive producer of the ABC television series Off the Map, How to Get Away with Murder, The Catch, and Grey’s spin-off Station 19.

In 2007, 2013 and 2021, Rhimes was named by Time on the Time 100, their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2015, she published her first book, a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person. In 2017, Netflix said that it had entered into a multi-year development deal with Rhimes, by which all of her future productions will be Netflix Original series.

20. Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.

Makeba was among the first African musicians to receive worldwide recognition. She brought African music to a Western audience and popularized the world music and Afropop genres. She also made popular several songs critical of apartheid, and became a symbol of opposition to the system, particularly after her right to return was revoked. Upon her death, former South African President Nelson Mandela said that her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.

21. Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. 

Maya was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defence of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing and expanding the genre. Her books centre on themes including racism, identity, family and travel.

22. Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg initially gained notice for her youth and her straightforward and blunt-speaking manner both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she criticizes world leaders for their failure to take what she considers sufficient action to address the climate crisis. 

Her sudden rise to world fame made her both a leader in the activist community and a target for critics, especially due to her youth. Her influence on the world stage has been described by The Guardian and other newspapers as the Greta effect.

23. Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series Girlfriends (2000鈥�2008) and Black-ish (2014鈥�2022).

Her work on it has earned her six NAACP Image Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Television Series Musical or Comedy. She has also received nominations for two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2019, she co-created a prequel spin-off of Black-ish titled Mixed-ish. In 2020, she starred in and recorded the soundtrack album for the musical film The High Note.

24. Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She went on to become the first woman in East and Central Africa to become a Doctor of Philosophy, receiving her PhD from the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Maathai was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. As an academic and the author of several books, Maathai was not only an activist but also an intellectual who has made significant contributions to thinking about ecology, development, gender, and African cultures and religions.

25. Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.

During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks. This led to her recognition by NASA for her historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist.

26. Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates is an American philanthropist and former multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft. Melinda Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes.

In 2000, she and her then-husband Bill Gates co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable organization as of 2015. She and her ex-husband have been awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honour. In early May 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates announced they were getting divorced but will still remain co-chairs of the foundation.

27. Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is an American singer, actress, and producer. She has received various accolades and was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2017, and she also broke 15 Guinness World Records. 

Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. She has a large following on social media and is the most followed musician and actress on Instagram. Gomez’s other ventures include makeup, clothing, handbag and fragrance lines. She has worked with many charitable organizations and served as a UNICEF ambassador since age 17.

28. Aurora James

Aurora James is a Canadian creative director, activist, and fashion designer. In 2013, she founded the fashion label Brother Vellies, with the goal of promoting traditional African design practices and techniques. In 2020, James founded the 15 Percent Pledge as a non-profit organization to support Black-owned businesses.

James spent the next few years experimenting with design, testing designs at local markets in New York and working with various artisan groups.She launched Brother Vellies in January 2013, and started with $3,500 in savings, with a goal of promoting the work of African artisans. The first formal Brother Vellies collection was produced for the spring 2014 season and was created entirely with shoemakers in South Africa. James later expanded to working in other countries within Africa and beyond, including Mexico and Honduras, to continue producing desert boots, shoes, slippers, and sandals.

29. Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

Witherspoon has consistently ranked among the world’s highest-paid actresses. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, Forbes named her the world’s richest actress with an estimated net worth of $400 million.

30. Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honoured her as the first lady of civil rights and the mother of the freedom movement.

Parks became an NAACP activist in 1943, participating in several high-profile civil rights campaigns. Parks’s act of defiance and the Montgomery bus boycott became important symbols of the movement. She became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation, and organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Edgar Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography and continued to insist that there was more work to be done in the struggle for justice.

31. Adele

Adele is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a record deal with XL Recordings. Adele was honoured with the Brit Award for Rising Star as well as the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Adele is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with sales of over 170 million records as of 2022. She was named the best-selling album artist of the 2010s decade in the US and worldwide as well as the best-selling female artist of the 21st century in the UK. 

32. Jennifer Aniston 

Jennifer Aniston is an American actress and film producer. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends from 1994 to 2004, for which she earned Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards. Since her career progressed in the 1990s, she has become one of the world’s highest-paid actresses. 

Aniston has been included in numerous magazines’ lists of the world’s most beautiful women. Her net worth is estimated at $300 million. With a box office gross of over $1.6 billion worldwide.She is the recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is the co-founder of the production company Echo Films, established in 2008.

33. Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, she is one of 17 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award (Oscar), and a Tony Award. In 2001, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. 

Goldberg is an advocate for human rights, moderating a panel at the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit on how social networks can be used to fight violent extremism in 2008, and also moderating a panel at the UN on human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, and reconciliation in 2009.

34. Malaika Vaz

Malaika Vaz is a National Geographic Explorer, TV presenter and wildlife filmmaker from Goa, India. She is the youngest person to reach the Artic and the Antarctic with students at the ice foundation.

Through her non-profit organization Kriy膩, Malaika works to empower women; victims of sexual violence and disadvantaged teenage girls through adventure sports and outdoor education. Under Malaika’s guidance, the Kriy膩 Ambassadors summited Stok Kangri and Lungser Kangri in the Indian Himalayas to raise money for the Sherpa communities in the Khumbu Valley who were devastated by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

35. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez is an American actress, singer and dancer. For her first leading role in Selena (1997), she became the first Hispanic actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. She went on to star in Anaconda (1997) and Out of Sight (1998) and established herself as the highest-paid Hispanic actress in Hollywood.

Lopez is considered a pop culture icon and is often described as a triple-threat entertainer. With a cumulative film gross of US$3.1 billion and estimated global sales of 80 million records, she is considered the most influential Hispanic entertainer in North America.

36. Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott is a British politician who has been a Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. A member of the Labour Party, she served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Home Secretary from 2016 to 2020. Abbott was the first black woman elected to Parliament and is the longest-serving black MP in the House of Commons.

Abbott is a frequent public speaker, newspaper contributor and TV performer, Abbott’s memoir, A Woman Like Me, will be published by Viking in the summer of 2022, after 35 years in Parliament.

 37. Lizzo

Lizzo is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Lizzo attained mainstream success with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), which peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200.

Aside from singing and rapping, Lizzo has also worked as an actor. In 2019, Time named Lizzo as “Entertainer of the Year” for her meteoric rise and contributions to music. In addition to her four Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.

38. Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and subsequently sold into enslavement at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent. 

Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable.John C. Shields, noted that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honoured as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.

39. Shakira

Shakira is a Colombian singer and songwriter. She has been referred to as the Queen of Latin Music and is noted for her musical versatility. She entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Buoyed by the international success of her singles “Whenever, Wherever” and “Underneath Your Clothes”, the album propelled her reputation as a leading crossover artist. Broadcast Music, Inc., described Shakira as a pioneer who extended the global reach of Latino singers.

With a catalogue of 145 songs, Shakira has sold over 85 million records, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Forbes Colombia reported that as of 2018, she is the top-selling female Latin artist of all time. She is credited with opening the doors of the international market for other Latin artists.

40. Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years of studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. Goodall first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, where she witnessed human-like behaviours amongst chimpanzees, including armed conflict.

She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots programme, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. As of 2022, she is on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project.In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. Goodall is an honorary member of the World Future Council.

41. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a horn-like improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

While Fitzgerald appeared in films and as a guest on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. In 1993, after a career of nearly sixty years, she gave her last public performance.

42. Winnie Mandela

Winnie Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996.

 A member of the African National Congress political party, Winnie served on the ANC’s National Executive Committee and headed its Women’s League. Winnie-Mandela was known to her supporters as the Mother of the Nation. 

43. Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton but received wider notice after the sex tape Kim Kardashian, Superstar, shot in 2003 with her then-boyfriend Ray J, was released in 2007. Kardashian has developed a significant presence online and across numerous social media platforms, including hundreds of millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram.

Time magazine included Kardashian on their list of 2015’s 100 most influential people. Both critics and admirers have described her as exemplifying the notion of being famous for being famous. She is estimated to be worth US$1.8 billion, as of 2022. Kardashian has become more politically active by lobbying for prison reform and clemency.

44. Julia Hill

Julia Hill is an American environmental activist and tax redirection advocate. She is best known for having lived in a 200-foot tall, approximately 1000-year-old California redwood tree for 738 days between December 10, 1997, and December 18, 1999. Hill lived in the tree, affectionately known as Luna, to prevent Pacific Lumber Company loggers from cutting it down.

Since her tree sit, Hill has become a motivational speaker, a best-selling author, and the co-founder of the Circle of Life Foundation and the Engage Network, a nonprofit that trains small groups of civic leaders to work toward social change.

45. Serena Williams

Serena Williams is an American former professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time. She is the only player, male or female, to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

Williams was the world’s highest-paid woman athlete in 2016, earning almost $29 million.[30] She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes’ list of the 100 highest-paid athletes, with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. In 2021, she was ranked 28th on Forbes’ World’s Highest-Paid Athletes list. She is the highest-earning woman athlete of all time.

 46. Anifa Mvuemba

Anifa Mvuemba is one of the most innovative designers in the fashion industry and the founder of the brand Hanifa, her creative eye and business prowess have led her to dress top fashionistas including Zendaya, Trace Ellis Ross, Bella Hadid, and more.

Anifa Mvuemba鈥檚 very sophisticated and classy designs, sold mostly in sizes 0 to 20, are just but the beginning of her innovations. She recently debuted her newest collection in a completely digital, 3-D fashion show. She is in the frontline in changing the perspective of runway shows and fashion design in the 21st century.

47. Naomi Ackie

Naomi Ackie is an English actress. She made her television debut as Jen in the Doctor Who episode Face the Rave in 2015. For her role as Bonnie on the television dark comedy-drama series The End of the F***ing World, she received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2020. 

Ackie is well known for her role as Jannah in the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). In 2021, she had a main role in the third season of Master of None. In 2022, she garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of American singer Whitney Houston in the biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, earning a Rising Star nomination at the British Academy Film Awards.

48. Sandra Bullock 

Sandra Bullock is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was the world’s highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2014. In 2010, she was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world.

Bullock owns the production company Fortis Films, through which she has served as a producer for several of her star vehicles. Bullock has been a public supporter of the American Red Cross and has donated $1 million to the organization at least five times. 

49. Cristeta Comerford

Cristeta Comerford is a Filipino-American chef who has been the White House executive chef since 2005. She is the first woman and first person of Asian origin to hold the post. She attended the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City, majoring in food technology.

Comerford was appointed White House executive chef by First Lady Laura Bush on August 14, 2005. Comerford is the first woman to hold this position. She reportedly was appointed to this position due to her handling of a large dinner that was held in honor of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh. On January 9, 2009, the Obama transition team announced that Comerford would be retained as the administration’s head chef. As chef to a head of state, Comerford is a member of Le Club des Chefs des Chefs.

50. Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was an American singer and actress. Widely referred to as The Voice, she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston influenced many singers in popular music and was known for her powerful, soulful vocals and vocal improvisation skills. She is the only artist to have had seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, from “Saving All My Love for You” in 1985 to “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” in 1988. 

Houston enhanced her popularity upon entering the movie industry. Her recordings and films generated both great success and controversy. She received numerous accolades throughout her career and posthumously, including two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 28 Guinness World Records, as well as induction into the Grammy, Rhythm and Blues Music, and Rock and Roll halls of fame.

51. Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith was a Methodist preacher and former slave who funded The Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children outside Chicago. She was a leader in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, preaching the doctrine of entire sanctification throughout Methodist camp meetings across the world.

Smith had an autobiography that was published in 1893, titled An Autobiography, The Story of the Lord’s Dealing with Mrs Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist Containing an Account of Her Life Work of Faith, and Her Travels in America, England, Ireland, Scotland, India, and Africa, as An Independent Missionary.

52. Cece Winas

Cece Winas is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards, the most for a female gospel singer; and 31 GMA Dove Awards, 16 Stellar Awards, and 7 NAACP Image Awards, along with many other awards and honors to her credit. 

Winans is considered to be one of the greatest gospel artists of all time, the most-awarded gospel artist of all time, and the best-selling gospel act of all time. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has 17 million record sales certified by RIAA, and over 19 million estimated in total sales as a solo artist. 

53. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. Minaj first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.

Referred to as the Queen of Rap, Minaj is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the top-selling female rapper of the 2010s. She became the first female artist to have one hundred Billboard Hot 100 entries and has twenty-one top 10 hits on the Hot 100, the most for any female rapper. Time included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Throughout her career, Minaj’s outspoken views and social media disputes have received significant media coverage.

54. Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. The films in which she has starred have collectively grossed over $3.9 billion globally, making her one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

Roberts was the world’s highest-paid actress throughout the majority of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. She was paid $300,000 for Pretty Woman (1990), and received then-unprecedented fees of $20 million and $25 million for her roles in Erin Brockovich (2000) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003), respectively. As of 2020, Roberts’ net worth was estimated to be $250 million.

55. Sarah Jakes Roberts

Sarah Jakes Roberts is a New York Times Bestselling author, entrepreneur, speaker, mother, and wife. Sarah has been creating a disruption in the digital and faith-based space. She is on a philanthropic mission to help women evolve into the best version of themselves.

Sarah Jakes Roberts is redefining what it means to be a modern woman of faith. Her messages spread throughout the world defying cultural, religious, gender, and socio-economic boundaries. Whether through her bestselling books or viral messages, Sarah has a unique way of reaching people who are seeking to make peace with their past, maximize their present, and deepen their relationship with God.

56. Gayle King

Gayle King is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, CBS Mornings, and before that its predecessor CBS This Morning. She is also an editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine. King was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.

King worked as a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1991, King briefly co-hosted an NBC daytime talk show with Robin Wagner called Cover to Cover, which was cancelled after 13 weeks. In 1997, she was offered her own syndicated talk show, The Gayle King Show, which was cancelled after one season due to low ratings. In September 2006, King began to host The Gayle King Show on XM Satellite Radio.

57. Ciara

Ciara is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, model and entrepreneur. Ciara has received multiple accolades, including a Grammy Award, two BET Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, seven Soul Train Awards, and thirteen Ascap Music Awards. As of 2019, Ciara’s worldwide sales total over 45 million.

Ciara has received mostly praise for her stage presence and routines during live performances. Ciara’s dancing is generally praised and she’s often considered one of the best or most emulable dancers in music. Ciara’s dance ability has been compared to Michael and Janet Jackson’s. Her dancing is often described as sexy, energetic, and precise.Ciara is considered to be one of the most reliable suppliers of beat-driven party music and the female face of crunk

58. Samia Suluhu

Samia Suluhu is a Tanzanian politician who has been serving since 19 March 2021 as the sixth and first female president of Tanzania. She is a member of the ruling social-democrat Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and the third female head of government of an East African Community country. Upon the death in office of President John Magufuli, she was sworn in as president.

As President, Suluhu’s government enacted policies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania in contrast to denialism under Magufuli and made efforts towards political reconciliation with opposition parties.

59. Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress.  Banks was the first African-American woman to be featured on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared three times. She was a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was one of the world’s top-earning models.

In 2003, Banks created the long-running reality television series America’s Next Top Model, which she executive produced and presented for the first twenty-two seasons, until the series’ cancellation in October 2015. Banks is one of four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly been ranked among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine. She is also one of only seventeen models to be ranked as a Legendary Supermodel by MODELS.com.

60. Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, with two Australian Open and two US Open titles. 

Her seven titles on the WTA Tour also include two at the Premier Mandatory level. At the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won her first two major titles in back-to-back tournaments. She was the first woman to win successive major singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015, and the first to win her first two in successive majors since Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

61. Ellen Degeneres

Ellen Degeneres is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom Ellen from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for The Puppy Episode. She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show from 2003 to 2022, for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards.

DeGeneres has hosted the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and the Primetime Emmys. She has authored four books and started her own record company, Eleveneleven, as well as a production company, A Very Good Production. In January 2020, DeGeneres received the Carol Burnett Award at the Golden Globes for her work on television, becoming the first recipient after its inaugural namesake Carol Burnett.

62. Kelly Rowland

Kelly Rowland is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time. During the group’s three-year hiatus, Rowland released her debut solo studio album, Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Throughout her career, Rowland has sold over 40 million records as a solo artist, and a further 60 million records with Destiny’s Child. Her work has earned her several awards and nominations, including five Grammy Awards, one Billboard Music Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards. Rowland has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destiny’s Child, and as a solo artist, she has been honoured by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Essence for her contributions to music.

63. Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara is a Colombian and American actress and model. Vergara was the highest-earning woman in U.S. television, earning $19 million for the previous 12 months on a list released by Forbes.com on July 18, 2012. Vergara was named one of People magazine’s “50 most beautiful people”, and named by The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard as one of the most influential Latin women in Hollywood.

Vergara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 7, 2015. In 2013, she signed endorsement contracts with Diet Pepsi, Rooms To Go, and the medicine Synthroid. In 2015, Forbes estimated Vergara’s annual income at $28.5 million. She starred on the ABC sitcom Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series from 2010 to 2013.

64. Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the attorney general of California and as a United States senator representing California from 2017 to 2021.

Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination but withdrew from the race prior to the primaries. Joe Biden selected her as his running mate and their ticket went on to defeat the incumbent president, Donald Trump, and vice president, Mike Pence, in the 2020 election. Harris became vice president upon being inaugurated on January 20, 2021, alongside President Joe Biden 

65. Ajuma Nasanyana

Ajuma Nasanyana is a Kenyan model. She has worked with Victoria’s Secret and Carlos Mienes, among other designers. Nasanyana participated in the New York Fashion Week alongside Naomi Campbell and Alek Wek for designers such as Baby Phat and Carlos Mienes before travelling to Milan to model for fashion houses such as Ungaro during the Italian Fashion Week. Paris was the final destination during the winter show season and British designer Vivienne Westwood made her the lead model in her show. In 2011, she was also named AFI African Fashion International’s, Africa Fashion Week Model of the Year 2012

66. Christiane Amanpour

Christiane Amanpour is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly interview program Amanpour. She is also the host of Amanpour & Company on PBS. 

Amanpour is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Center for Public Integrity, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Since April 2015 she has served as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and journalist safety.

67. Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since 2011, having been the general secretary from 1988 to 2011. She played a vital role in Myanmar’s transition from a military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s.

Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence in the 8888 Uprising of 8 August 1988 and became the General Secretary of the NLD, which she had newly formed with the help of several retired army officials who criticized the military junta. By 12 October 2022, she had been sentenced to 26 years imprisonment on ten charges in total, including five corruption charges.[17] The United Nations, most European countries, and the United States condemned the arrests, trials, and sentences as politically motivated.

68. Angelina Jolie 

Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress multiple times.

As a public figure, Jolie has been cited as one of the most powerful and influential people in the American entertainment industry. Jolie is known for her humanitarian efforts, for which she has received a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, among other honours. She promotes various causes, including conservation, education, and women’s rights, and is most noted for her advocacy on behalf of refugees as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a position she held until 2022.

69. Cardi B

Cardi B is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York, which depicted the pursuit of her music aspirations, and earned further recognition with the release of her two mixtapes: Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 (2016) and Vol. 2 (2017).

Her accolades include a Grammy Award, eight Billboard Music Awards, six Guinness World Records, six American Music Awards, 14 BET Hip Hop Awards, and two ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards. In 2018, Time magazine included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, Billboard honoured her as Woman of the Year. Outside of music, she became the creative director of the entertainment magazine Playboy in 2022.

70. Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.

Marie was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. In addition to her Nobel Prizes, she has received numerous other honours and tributes; in 1995 she became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Paris Panth茅on, and Poland declared 2011 the Year of Marie Curie during the International Year of Chemistry. She is the subject of numerous biographical works, and she is also known as Madame Curie.

71. Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as First Lady of the United States as the wife of president Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. 

A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was the party’s nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party; Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote, thereby losing the election to Donald Trump.

72. Madonna

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Dubbed the Queen of Pop, Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She has pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music while continuing to maintain control over every aspect of her career.

Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure crossing both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna remains one of the most well-documented figures of the modern age, with a broad amount of scholarly reviews and literature works on her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her named Madonna studies.

73. Maria Shriver

Maria Shriver is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. She was married to the former governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, from whom she filed for divorce in 2011 and which was finalized in 2021.

For her reporting at NBC, Shriver received a Peabody Award in 1998 and was co-anchor for NBC’s Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer’s Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a television show with a conscience.

74. Janice Bryant Howroyd

Janice Bryant Howroyd is an entrepreneur, businesswoman, and author. She is the founder and chief executive officer of The ActOne Group, the largest privately held, minority-woman-owned personnel company founded in the U.S. Howroyd is the first African-American woman to build and own a billion-dollar company.

Howroyd, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners, has had a significant impact on the well-being of her community and has had the foresight and generosity to recognize that her success is best savoured when she pays it forward via scholarship funding and personal service, she supports universities, women’s support organizations, minority-serving organizations, and is a mentor to others through personal work and media engagements.

75. Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Having sold an estimated 170 million records, Gaga is one of the world’s best-selling music artists and the only female artist to achieve four singles that each sold at least 10 million copies globally. 

Time magazine named Gaga one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 and 2019 and placed her on their All-Time 100 Fashion Icons list. Her philanthropy and activism focus on mental health awareness and LGBT rights; she has her own non-profit organization, the Born This Way Foundation, which supports the wellness of young people.

76. Martha Gellhorn

Martha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century.

Gellhorn reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career. The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism is named after her.

77. Mae Jemison

Dr. Mae Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12鈥�20, 1992.

Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology research company. She later formed a non-profit educational foundation and through the foundation is the principal of the 100-Year Starship project funded by DARPA. Jemison also wrote several books for children and appeared on television several times, including in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She holds several honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

78.Wendy Williams

Wendy Williams is an American broadcaster and writer. From 2008 to 2022, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show The Wendy Williams Show. 

Williams’ other endeavours include authoring several books, appearances in various films and television shows, touring her comedy show, and her own product lines, including a fashion line, a jewellery collection and a wig line. Williams was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009. On her 50th birthday, the council of Asbury Park, New Jersey, renamed the street on which she grew up Wendy Williams Way.

79. Amanda Brown

Amanda Brown is an American singer and dancer from New York City. She was a contestant on the third season of NBC鈥檚 The Voice and finished in fifth place.

In December 2015, Brown performed backing vocals for Adele in the NBC special, Adele Live in New York City at Radio City Music Hall. Brown then went on to tour with Adele for her Adele Live 2016 world tour from February 29, 2016, to June 29, 2017. In February 2018, Brown dropped Believers, the first single of her first full-length project Dirty Water, released on May 11, 2018. In April 2018, Brown released “No Good”, the second single of her debut album “Dirty Water”

80. Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for black women through the business she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. She became known also for her philanthropy and activism. At the time of her death, she was considered the wealthiest African-American businesswoman and the wealthiest self-made black woman in America.

81. Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American-born and naturalized Swiss retired singer, dancer and actress. Widely referred to as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.

Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the first black artist and the first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

82. Harper Lee

Harper Lee was an American novelist. She penned the 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird which won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. 

Lee received numerous accolades and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 which was awarded for her contribution to literature.

83. Chrissy Teigen

Chrissy Teigen is an American model and television personality. Teigen has also authored three cookbooks. Teigen identifies herself as a feminist and intends to raise her children as such. She made donations to the nonprofit organization Planned Parenthood in 2015 following the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting and again in 2017. She and her husband donated $25,000 to March for Our Lives, a rally against gun violence, in 2018.

A supporter of immigrants’ rights, Teigen delivered a speech at a Families Belong Together event in Los Angeles that same year. In May 2020, she donated $200,000 to bail and legal defence funds to aid activists arrested during protests in response to the murder of George Floyd.

84. J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume children’s fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 500 million copies, been translated into at least 70 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games.

Rowling has won many accolades for her work. She has received an OBE and was made a Companion of Honour for services to literature and philanthropy. Harry Potter brought her wealth and recognition that she has used to advance philanthropic endeavours and political causes.

85. Priscilla Presley

Priscilla Presley is an American actress and businesswoman. She is co-founder and former chairwoman of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that turned Graceland into one of the top tourist attractions in the United States. 

In her acting career, Presley co-starred with Leslie Nielsen in the three Naked Gun films and played the role of Jenna Wade on the long-running television series Dallas.

86. Linda Martell

Linda Martell is an American singer. She became the first commercially successful black female artist in the country music field and the first to play the Grand Ole Opry. As one of the first African-American country performers, Martell helped influence the careers of future Nashville artists of colour.

Martell was discovered singing country music on an air force base. This led to an introduction to producer Shelby Singleton, who signed her to his Nashville label in 1969. The same year, the label released her country cover of “Color Him Father.” The song became a charting single on the Billboard charts and her debut album followed in 1970. Martell made several appearances on country music television programs.

87. Ashley Graham

Ashley Graham is an American plus-sized model and television presenter. After a lifetime of modelling, Graham had her debut on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2016. A year later, she published her first book, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like, which contributes to her advocacy in the body positivity and inclusion movement.

88. Taryn Terrell

Taryn Terrell is an American model, actress, stuntwoman, ring announcer, and a retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, under her real name, and for her time in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Tiffany. She is a former TNA Knockouts Champion, where her 279-day reign stood as the longest reign in the title’s history until 2019. 

During her time in WWE, she trained at WWE’s then-developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and served as the final general manager of the ECW brand. She has worked National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2021 up until her retirement on November 10, 2022.

89. Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. 

Her sound and choreography became a catalyst in the growth of MTV, enabling her to rise to prominence while breaking gender and racial barriers in the process. Lyrical content which focused on social issues and lived experiences set her reputation as a role model for youth.

90. Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide

Kylie has been recognised for reinventing herself in music and fashion, for which she is referred to by the European press as the Princess of Pop and a style icon. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards and 17 ARIA Music Awards.

91. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as the most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature, particularly in her second home, the United States. 

In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. She was the recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize in 2018. She was recognized as one of the BBC’s 100 women of 2021.

92. Paula White

Paula White is an American televangelist and a proponent of prosperity theology. White became chair of the evangelical advisory board in Donald Trump’s administration. 

She delivered the invocation at his inauguration, on January 20, 2017. She is the first female clergy member to deliver the invocation. In November 2019, Trump appointed her special advisor to the Faith and Opportunity Initiative at the Office of Public Liaison.

93. Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm, placed her at the forefront of the neo-soul movement, earning her the nickname Queen of Neo Soul by music critics. 

Badu’s voice has been compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday. Early in her career, Badu was recognizable for her eccentric style, which often included wearing very large and colourful headwraps. She was a core member of the Soulquarians. As an actress, she has played a number of supporting roles in movies and has also appeared in several documentaries.

94. Celine Dion

Celine Dion is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist and the best-selling French-language artist of all time.

Her music has incorporated genres such as pop, rock, R&B, gospel, and classical music. Her recordings since have been mainly in English and French, although she has also sung in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese and Chinese.

95. Anja Niedringhaus

Anja Niedringhaus was a German photojournalist who worked for the Associated Press (AP). She was the only woman on a team of 11 AP photographers that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Iraq War.

That same year she was awarded the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism prize.

96. Alice Walker

Alice Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple.

Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry. She has faced criticism for alleged antisemitism and for her endorsement of the conspiracist David Icke.

97. Jenna Ortega

Jenna Marie Ortega is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series Jane the Virgin. Her breakthrough role came in portraying Harley Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle, for which she won an Imagen Award. She played Ellie Alves in the second season of the thriller series You in 2019 and starred in the family film Yes Day (2021), both for Netflix.

Ortega received critical praise for her performance in the teen drama film The Fallout (2021) and went on to star in the 2022 horror films Scream and X. She starred as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix horror comedy series Wednesday (2022), for which she received nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

98. Cathy Hughes

Cathy Hughes is an American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. She has been listed as the second-richest Black woman in the United States. 

She founded the media company Radio One, now known as Urban One and when the company went public in 1999, she became the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded corporation.

99. Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk, for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021.

In 2002, Pinkett Smith launched a music career as the lead singer and songwriter for the heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom. In 2004, she published a children’s book, Girls Hold Up This World, which landed at number two on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with her husband Will Smith, she has a production company and has producing credits in films, documentaries, and television series. In 2010, she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the Broadway musical Fela.

100. Erica Jong

Erica Jong is an American novelist, satirist, and poet, known particularly for her 1973 novel Fear of Flying. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured prominently in the development of second-wave feminism. According to The Washington Post, it has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Jong supports LGBT rights and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

101. Emma Gonz谩lez

Emma Gonz谩lez is an American activist and advocate for gun control. In 2018, they survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, and in response co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD.

Gonz谩lez continues to be an outspoken activist on gun control, making high-profile media appearances and helping organize the March for Our Lives. Speaking at the demonstration, Gonz谩lez led a moment of silence for the victims of the massacre; they stood on stage for six minutes, which they observed was the length of the shooting spree itself. Gonz谩lez was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.

102. Priscilla Shirer

Priscilla Shirer is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, Christian media personality, and evangelist. Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still, the Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

103. Kresley Cole

Kresley Cole is an American bestselling author of paranormal romance and young adult novels. She has received three Romance Writers of America (RWA) RITA Awards and was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame in 2009.

Her books have been translated into 23 languages, garnered 3 RITA awards, a Hall of Fame induction, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists, in the U.S. and abroad.

104. Ruth Oniang鈥檕

Ruth Oniang鈥檕 is a Kenyan Professor of Nutrition and a former member of Parliament. She created Rural Outreach Africa to empower smallholders to address malnutrition, she oversees her country’s nutrition policy and she is on the board of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International.

She founded the Rural Outreach Program in 1992 to provide small farmers with indigenous soil testing and other resources needed to be productive. Oniang’o founded the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development in 2001 to highlight relevant academic research in the field. Oniang’o has won several awards for her work in agriculture and food policy, including the Distinguished Service Medal and Silver Star. 

105. Nina Simone

Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop.

Simone recorded more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with I Love You, Porgy. Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.

106. Edith Irby Jones

Jones was an American physician who was the first African American to be accepted as a non-segregated student at the University of Arkansas Medical School and the first black student to attend racially mixed classes in the American South. She was the first African American to graduate from a southern medical school, the first black intern in the state of Arkansas, and later the first black intern at Baylor College of Medicine.

Jones was the first woman president of the National Medical Association and a founding member of the Association of Black Cardiologists. She was honoured by many awards, including induction into both the University of Arkansas College of Medicine Hall of Fame and the inaugural group of women inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.

107. Betty White

Betty White was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vast body of work in entertainment and for being one of the first women to work both in front of and behind the camera. She produced and starred in the sitcom Life with Elizabeth, making her the first woman to produce a sitcom.

For her lengthy work in radio, television, and film, White twice earned the Guinness World Record for the longest TV career by a female entertainer in both 2014 and 2018.

108. Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Kaur emigrated to Canada at a young age with her family. She began performing poetry in 2009 and rose to fame on Instagram, eventually becoming a popular poet through her three collections of poetry.

Her social media numbers are similar to that of pop music, TV and film stars. Since its release in 2014, her collection Milk and Honey, has sold over 2.5 million copies in 25 languages, spending 77 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List. Kaur has been praised for influencing the modern literary scene.

109. Chyna

Chyna was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder, pornographic actress and television personality. In 2019, Chyna was posthumously entered into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of D-Generation X, making her the first woman to be inducted as a part of a group or team.

She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation in 1997, where she was billed as The Ninth Wonder of the World. A founding member of the stable D-Generation X as the promotion’s first female enforcer, she held the WWF Intercontinental Championship, being the only female performer to do so thrice and the WWF Women’s Championship once.

110. Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and sexuality. She rose to prominence after starring in the ABC sitcom All-American Girl and became an established stand-up comic in the subsequent years.

She has also had endeavours in fashion and music and has her own clothing line. Cho has also frequently supported LGBT rights and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asian Americans, and the LGBT community.