It’s worth the cost
These women represent just a sprinkling of the millions of female leaders who have changed their worlds for the better and then faded into the vast expanse of oblivion that history reserves for the…
The Grimke Sisters
The Grimke sisters were born to an elite family who owned several plantations and many enslaved people in South Carolina. Though brought up in the lap of luxury, both women rejected outright the…
Nora A Gordon
Born in 1866 to former slaves, Nora was the first graduate from Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, to be sent as a missionary to Africa.
St Brigid
The feast day of Brigid is celebrated on February 1. It is a time of new beginnings. Winter is passing and Spring is on its way. It is something of a liminal space, characterised by hope for brighter…
Alimotu Pelewura
Pelewura was leader of the Lagos Market Women’s Association; the Women's Representative in the Ilu Committee, an advisory group; the Alaga (head) of the Ereko Market Women’s Association, and an…
Wangari Maathai
Professor Wangari Maathai was awardwed the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
Minouche Shafik
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Nemat Talaat Shafik, known by her childhood nickname of Minouche, and her family fled the regime of General Nasser when she was four to start a new life in America,…
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
As Ellen Johnson Sirleaf talked about her journey to becoming the first democratically elected, female black President in the world, I thought, “why have I not heard about this woman before? Where…
Pandita Ramabai
Western Christians are unfamiliar with the name Pandita Ramabai, although she was one of the key Indian Christian leaders of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson
Dorothy Vaughn, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson are the fulfilment of an enslaved person’s dream. Ordinary women, doing what they loved with strength, patience and passion, changed the world.