June Almeida serves as a role model for determination and innovation. As the person to identify the first human coronavirus, scientists, and people all over the world, are indebted to her work.

Karikó’s research and perseverance proved that mRNA vaccines were possible and paved the way for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to end the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman to receive a Medical Degree (MD) in the United States.

The first female Solicitor General of the United States and now an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Elena Kagan is a prominent legal scholar and jurist who has advocated for justice and equality since childhood.

As the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has made an impact in and out of the courtroom.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States, was one of the most influential Americans of the 1980s and 1990s.

Agnes de Mille was one of the preeminent American choreographers of the twentieth century.

Cecily Tyson dedicated her career to portraying resilient African American women on the stage and the screen.

Edmonia “Wildfire” Lewis is considered the first professional BIPOC sculptor in the United States and the first to achieve international acclaim.

Wilma Mankiller is honored and recognized as the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Toni Ko, a first-generation South Korean immigrant, made a name for herself in the business world as the founder of NYX Cosmetics and now helps fund and develop other women-run brands.

Environmental health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers is determined to battle “America’s Dirty Secret”: unequal sewage and sanitation access for rural communities and people of color.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the “Guardian of the Glades,” led the charge to protect the Everglades and reveal their rich natural heritage to the rest of the world.

Marine biology expert Dr. Sylvia Earle holds the record for deepest walk on the sea floor, and was the first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Winona LaDuke, a Native American activist, economist, and author, has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of their homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices.

Throughout her long life, Hedgeman advocated for civil rights, education, social justice, poverty relief, and women.

As one of the newest members of Congress, Bush pushes for progressive legislative goals that will benefit her constituents—people just like her.

As a poet, writer, activist, organizer, legal theorist, and priest, Murray was directly involved in, and helped articulate, the intellectual foundations of two of the most important social justice movements of the twentieth century.

Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States.

A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements.