Women’s History Month Part 12: Leymah Gbowee: The Liberian Activist Who Helped Lead a Women’s Movement for Peace
In the early 2000s, Liberia was experiencing one of the most devastating periods in its history. Years of civil war had left the country deeply fractured. Communities were displaced, infrastructure was destroyed, and families were caught in a cycle of violence that seemed impossible to escape. In the middle of this crisis, an unexpected force […]
Women’s History Month Part 11: Henrietta Lacks: She Did Not Choose to Change Medicine. Medicine Took That Choice From Her.
On February 5, 1951, Henrietta Lacks was on a table at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, receiving a radium treatment for cervical cancer. She was thirty years old. She was the mother of five children. She was the wife of David Lacks, who worked at the Bethlehem Steel mill at Sparrows Point. She was […]
Women’s History Month Part 11: Maxine Waters: Reclaiming Her Time. And Yours. And the Country’s.
In July 2017, Maxine Waters sat at the dais of the House Financial Services Committee and asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin a question. Mnuchin began his response with an extended preamble about what an honor it was to be there, how much he appreciated the committee’s time, how he looked forward to a productive conversation. […]
Women’s History Month Part 10: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: A Global Voice for Economic Reform and Fair Trade
Economic leadership requires more than technical knowledge. It demands the ability to navigate political pressures, negotiate international agreements, and design policies that balance growth with fairness. Few modern economists have demonstrated this combination of skills as effectively as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Over the course of a career spanning more than four decades, Okonjo-Iweala has emerged as […]
Women’s History Month Part 9: Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett: She Was Ready Before the World Knew It Needed Her.
She was sitting on her mother’s couch in Hillsborough, North Carolina, on the last night of the decade, when the email arrived. The subject line read: “Get ready for 2020.” Attached was a news article describing twenty-seven people in Wuhan, China, who had been stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness. Her boss at the National […]
Women’s History Month Part 8: Fatou Bensouda: Champion of International Justice and Accountability
Fatou Bensouda’s name is synonymous with global efforts to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law. Hailing from The Gambia, she rose through a distinguished legal career to lead one of the world’s most important institutions for international justice — the International Criminal Court (ICC) — where she served as Chief Prosecutor […]
Women’s History Month Part 7: Norma Merrick Sklarek: She Built the Buildings. The Industry Kept Her Name Off Them.
There is a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport that Norma Merrick Sklarek built. There is an American embassy in Tokyo that Norma Merrick Sklarek designed. There is a Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, a California Mart, a San Bernardino City Hall, a Fox Plaza in San Francisco, and a Mall of America in […]
Women’s History Month Part 6: Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Trees and Empowered a Nation
Every generation produces individuals whose work reshapes how the world understands justice, responsibility, and leadership. During Women’s History Month, it is important to recognize women whose contributions extend beyond their own communities and influence global conversations about equality, sustainability, and human rights. One of the most influential figures to emerge from Africa in the modern […]
Women’s History Month Part 5: Ursula M. Burns: Engineer. Executive. The First.
Ursula M. Burns was born on September 20, 1958, in New York City, and she grew up in the Baruch Houses — a public housing project on the Lower East Side of Manhattan where Jewish immigrants, Puerto Ricans, and African Americans occupied the same buildings, bound together by the single common factor that Burns herself […]
Women’s History Month Part 4: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The Leadership That Helped Rebuild Liberia
History often places extraordinary responsibilities on leaders at the most difficult moments. For Liberia, that moment arrived in the early 2000s after years of violent civil conflict had devastated the nation’s economy, infrastructure, and political institutions. Rebuilding the country required more than policy reforms—it required steady leadership capable of restoring public confidence and guiding a […]
