Women are unstoppable in today's world, and their power and influence are growing. We are demand and seek a new society, one that allows us to be and be anything we want—and we are creating the structures that allows us to do so.
Of course, Women of the Year is a celebration. But it's also a lens through which we can see the changing nature of power and leadership. To answer the question "Who was influential in 2021?" you must first answer the questions "What is influence?" and "How is it changing?"
So, here are some inspirational women we look up to:
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Director General, World Trade Organisation
In March of this 2021 she was appointed to lead the World Trade Organization. With the pandemic destabilising an international commerce network already beset by growing protectionism and vaccine nationalism posing a significant threat to the global economy, the world required a strong leader.
Her management of the 2008-09 food and financial crises, as well as her desire to retrieve stolen assets, displayed her resolve during her 25 years at the World Bank. She broke glass ceilings with her complete competence, absolute integrity, and good humour, becoming Nigeria's first female finance minister and foreign minister, where she implemented tough reforms to improve the country's public finances' transparency and is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization.
Gita Gopinath
Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund
The "Great Lockdown," a term Gopinath developed during the pandemic to describe the world economy's worst recession since the Great Depression, has dominated Gopinath's time as IMF chief economist. She was instrumental in designing the fund's reaction, first and foremost by emphasising the importance of doing "whatever it takes" to combat the pandemic, which included substantial monetary support and health investment. This resulted in the rapid provision of emergency funding to 88 countries.
She also co-authored The Pandemic Plan which demonstrated how, with just $50 billion in global investment, we could effectively address the COVID-19 catastrophe by vaccinating 40 per cent of the world's most vulnerable population this year and 70 per cent by mid-2022 (a rounding error compared to the amounts being spent by advanced economies on their domestic responses). While the world as a whole failed to deliver on this scale, Gopinath demonstrated that a coordinated worldwide response would have been preferable for everyone.
She is driven by evidence and rigour, which means she often thinks differently on topics ranging from international money flows to climate change impacts. She is the first woman to serve as the IMF's top economist.
Kate Bingham
Former Chair, UK Vaccine Taskforce
In 2020, a 90-year-old British man became the first individual outside of a clinical trial to get the COVID-19 vaccination. More than 30 million people in the UK had gotten at least one shot within six months, a feat made possible by Kate Bingham, the head of the UK's vaccine task force.
Bingham, a venture capitalist with a first-class degree in biochemistry, invested in a diverse range of potential vaccinations, knowing that not all would succeed. Her three decades of experience investing in life sciences allowed her to take calculated risks and spend enormous sums of money. It would not have worked to sit back and keep asking for additional information, as some individuals would have done. She insisted on comprehensive due diligence, numerous stages of screening, and cautious contract negotiation at the same time.
She returned to the private sector at the end of 2020, but it wasn't until 2021 that we witnessed the full impact of her efforts, as her calm decisions amid the pandemic's early days saved countless lives.
Naomi Osaka
Athlete
Sports can be thought of as a microcosm of society. This concept was recently demonstrated in real-time with Naomi Osaka's critical attempt to bring attention to the mental health difficulties that people from all walks of life experience.
Naomi is one of sports' most successful businesswomen, a racial justice activist, and a person who transcends athletics, most recently by utilising her platform to promote health and wellness. As a result, she has inspired people all across the world and sparked a dialogue about mental health that affects everyone, not just athletes.
Athletes frequently have an identity, a brand, and an image that they feel obligated to maintain. Naomi is forging her own path and is praised for demonstrating that "it's OK to not be OK." In both athletics and life, she is a great champion.
Chloe Zhao
Film-maker
Zhao, who was born in China, became the first Asian woman, the first woman of colour, and only the second woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director in April for Nomadland, a docudrama that debunked every stereotype about the homeless and featured one of the most interesting protagonists to appear on screen in the last ten years. Zhao embodied the lofty nobility of filmmaking independently and creatively focused on social issues.
Zhao may be cocooned in the bubble of indie filmmaker darling for some. But she's making her own path through Hollywood's studio structure, demonstrating that she's a versatile genre player. After all, she's only getting started.
Conclusion
2021 has been quite the year, but these inspirational women have surely motivated us to keep doing our best. It's great to see that now women are standing up to their truth without compromising, and are paving their way to success.
FAQs
Q. What can we learn from these inspirational women?
A. The most important thing to learn from these inspirational women is how to be your own person without compromising on your ethics. Each of the women featured in this list has gained recognition for their work, and have used the spotlight to also help others.
Q. How can I be a successful person?
A. You don't need a magic wand to be successful. What you need is grit and determination, and work towards your goals, whatever it may be. There's no fixed timeline to be successful, but once you're there, you'll be thankful for all your struggles and learning lessons.