Mato's Blog

Women are not well represented in leadership positions and their accomplishments are often ignored or reported with a rather skewed perception from a men’s prospective. This blog here in an unimportant and remote corner of the internet jungle will not change that but if I can inspire a few souls, it was at least worth the effort.

This is the second part of a list of women role models. The list is incomplete and is based to a great part on information from the internet which can be inaccurate. As always I’m grateful for any suggestions and correction! The first part was about women from India, this part is about women from USA and Canada.

Part 1 Some infos about remarkable women {1}

Adrienne Germain
President of the International Women’s Health Coalition. She designed programs to advance the health and education of girls and women in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
http://www.iwhc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2734&Itemid=61
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adrienne-germain
http://www.futurechoices.net/bios/germainabio.html

Adrienne Rich
A poet, essayist and feminist.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/49
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rich/rich.htm
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/adrienne_rich

Al-jen Poo
Helped to found Domestic Workers United, mobilized New York’s nannies, housekeepers, and caregivers to the elderly to fight for recognition and fair compensation.
http://www.domesticworkersunited.org
http://www.organizingupgrade.com/2010/02/organizing-with-love/
http://www.gloriaawards.presskit247.com/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2299

Alice Walker
An African American writer and poet.
http://alicewalkersgarden.com/
http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/
http://aalbc.com/authors/alice.htm

Amy Goodman
A progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, reporter and author.
http://www.democracynow.org/about/staff
http://www.truthdig.com/amy_goodman#bio
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/amygoodmangatekeeper27aug05.shtml

Angela Davis
A political activist, scholar and author. Associated with the with the Communist Party, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black Panther.
http://www.speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=46
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdavisAN.htm
http://old.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id91/pg1/

Anika Rahman
Is the President of Americans for UNFPA
http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=490
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/anika-rahman
http://www.ms.foundation.org/about_us/our_staff/anika-rahman

Antonia Juhasz
A policy-analyst, author and activist. Author of The Tyranny of Oil.
http://www.tyrannyofoil.org/
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/85.html
http://www.alternet.org/authors/7009/

Bernice Johnson Reagon
Singer, composer, scholar, activist. Sweet Honey in the Rock.
http://www.bernicejohnsonreagon.com/
http://www.folkways.si.edu/explore_folkways/bernice_reagon.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/profile3.html

Bertha Gilkey
An African American activist of tenant management and public housing properties.
http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=218
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/05/magazine/cultivating-their-own-gardens.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Gilkey

Bree Walker
A TV network news anchor and radio host.
http://www.breewalker.com/
http://www.abilitymagazine.com/walker_interview.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bree-walker

Buffy Sainte-Marie
A Native American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, social activist.
http://www.creative-native.com/
http://www.buffysaintemarie.co.uk/
http://www.mouthbow.org/

Carol W. Greider
A molecular biologist at John Hopkins University. She was awarded the 2009 Nobel Price for Physiology/Medicine.
http://www.pnas.org/content/102/23/8077.full
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/pharmacology/research/greider.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/13conv.html?_r=1

Christina Ricci
An actress.
http://www.christinaricci.ws/
http://icydk.com/2008/05/20/christina-ricci-became-an-activist-for-rape-victims/
http://www.rainn.org/news-room/rainn-press/christina-ricci-joins-rainn-as-national-spokesperson

Christy Turlington Burns
Founder of Every Mother Counts, Model, Maternal Health Advocate, Documentary Filmmaker. In 2010, she financed and directed No Woman No Cry, a documentary which features the powerful stories of four at-risk pregnant women.
http://www.everymothercounts.org/
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-04-17/entertainment/27061998_1_care-health-film
http://www.ivillage.com/star-mom-christy-turlington-burns-ivillage/6-a-127944

Cindy Sherman
A photographer and film director, known for her conceptual portraits.
http://www.cindysherman.com/
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/cindy-sherman/
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/sherman_cindy.html

Diane Keaton
An actress, director, producer and screenwriter.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000473/bio
http://movies.nytimes.com/person/96996/Diane-Keaton
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-keaton/

Donna Smith
A Social Justice activist. Featured in Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/10-12
http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/blog/donna-smith-sicko-patient
http://www.michaelmoore.com/blogger/DonnaSmith

Edna Lee Paisano
A Native American mathematician and social activist.
http://www.bu.edu./lernet/pathways/bios.html#ep
http://www.jimrodslz.org/cultural_math/namathematicians.html
http://astro.temple.edu/~dhill001/careers/Statistics.html

Elinor Ostrom
An economist, who won the Nobel Price 2009 in economic sciences.
http://elinorostrom.indiana.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom
http://www.indiana.edu/~workshop/people/lostromcv.htm
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/america-the-remix/elinor-ostrom-wins-nobel-for-common-s-sense

Elizabeth Blackburn
A biological researcher at the University of California. She won the 2009 Nobel Price in Physiology/Medicine.
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/bla0bio-1
http://biochemistry.ucsf.edu/labs/blackburn/
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec/blackburn

Emily Heroy
She founded Gender Across Borders (GAB), where  a team of feminist bloggers are dedicated to examining gender, race, sexuality, and class worldwide.
www.genderacrossborders.com
http://equality101.net/?page_id=902
http://www.thedailyfemme.com/femme/tag/emily-heroy/

Erykah Badu
A recording artist, record producer and actress.
http://www.erykah-badu.com/
http://www.baduworld.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erykah_Badu

Esther Pearson
A mathematician, technologist, and educator. Assistant professor of mathematics at Lasell College.
http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/womeninsciencet/1998/062398.shtml
http://www.lasell.edu/Academics/Departments/Mathematics-and-Science/Faculty/Esther-Pearson.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Pearson

Faye Wattleton
The first African American president of Planned Parenthood (family planning and reproductive health.)
http://www.fayewattleton.com/
http://www.blacklistproject.com/List/Wattleton.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faye_Wattleton

Gloria Steinem
Writer, Feminist, Organizer and Activist. Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine in 1972.
http://www.gloriasteinem.com/
http://www.feminist.com/gloriasteinem/
http://www.womensconference.org/gloria-steinem-2/

Grace Lee Boggs
A Detroit-based radical organizer and philosopher. She has been involved with the civil rights movement, Black Power, labor, environmental justice, and the feminist movement.
http://boggscenter.org/
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06152007/profile2.html
http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/grace_lee_boggs.php

Helene Gayle
Since 2006 head of CARE, an international anti-poverty organization. CARE has placed women at the heart of its work, which includes over 800 anti-poverty projects reaching 59 million people in 72 countries.
http://www.care.org/about/bio_gayle.asp
http://www.change.org/changemakers/view/helene_gayle
http://www.cfr.org/experts/world/helene-d-gayle/b5293

Jane Alexander
An actress and activist
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000737/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Alexander

Jesselyn Radack
A former ethics adviser to the US Department of Justice who came to prominence as a whistleblower after she disclosed that the FBI committed ethics violations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesselyn_Radack
http://www.patriotictruthteller.net/
http://motherjones.com/politics/2004/01/anatomy-whistleblower
http://www.whistleblower.org/about/gap-staff/86-jesselyn-radack

Jill W. Sheffield
President of Women Deliver. In 1987, Sheffield co-founded Family Care International.
http://www.womendeliver.org/about/staff/
http://changingthepresent.org/advisors/show/113

Joan Baez
A folk singer, songwriter and activist.
http://www.joanbaez.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111395125

Jody Williams
A teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Price for her contribution to the campaign to ban land mines.
http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=jodywilliams
http://www.peacejam.org/laureates/Jody-Williams-11.aspx
http://www.sw.uh.edu/faculty/jwilliams.php

Joyce Baskins
A African American political activist.
http://zine375.eserver.org/issue2/zine10.html
http://english.cmu.edu/research/clc/baskins.html

Karma Lekshe Tsomo
A Buddhist nun, Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, Director of the Jamyang Foundation.
http://www.sandiego.edu/cas/theo/faculty/biography.php?ID=296
http://home.sandiego.edu/~ktsomo/
http://www.ijourney.org/med/index.php?pg=speaker&who=lekshe

Judith Butler
A philosopher and feminist. She is a professor of rhetoric and literature at the University of California, Berkeley.
http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-butl.htm
http://rhetoric.berkeley.edu/faculty_bios/judith_butler.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/08/judith-butler-100-women

k.d. lang
A Canadian singer, songwriter
http://www.kdlang.com/splash
http://www.kdlang.net/
http://www.nndb.com/people/111/000023042/

Linda B. Buck
A biologist known for her work on the olfactory system. She was awarded the 2004 Nobel Price in Physiology/Medicine.
http://www.nndb.com/people/729/000125354/
http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/buck_bio.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2004/buck-autobio.html

Lynsey Addario
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist. Her photography has covered issues ranging from maternal mortality in Sierra Leone to the lives of female soldiers in the US military, from victims of sexual assault in the Congo to the self-immolation of women in Afghanistan
http://www.lynseyaddario.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynsey_Addario
http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.5457999/k.92D9/Lynsey_Addario.htm

Margaret Eleanor Atwood
A Canadian poet, novelist, and critic, noted for her feminism.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/atwood.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood

Marian Wright Edelman
An advocate for disadvantaged Americans and President of CDF.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/leadership-staff/marian-wright-edelman/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Wright_Edelman
http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=marianedelman

Maude Barlow
A Canadian author and activist. Co-founder of the Blue Planet Project.
http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/barlow.html
http://www.canadians.org/about/Maude_Barlow/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maude_Barlow

Maya Angelou
An African American poet, novelist, activist, actress.
http://mayaangelou.com/
http://www.poemhunter.com/maya-angelou/
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ang0bio-1

Oprah Winfrey
A TV producer and founder of the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. The only African American woman to be ever in the Forbes 400.
http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Oprah-Winfreys-Official-Biography
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0bio-1
http://www.nndb.com/people/466/000022400/

Patti Austin
A singer and Grammy winner. Jazz, Soul, R&B.
http://pattiaustin.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Austin
http://www.npr.org/artists/15396384/patti-austin

Roberta Flack
An African American singer, Grammy winner. Jazz, Soul, R&B.
http://www.robertaflack.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Flack
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/roberta%20flack.html

Rachel Maddow
Host of “The Rachel Maddow Show”
http://www.rachelmaddow.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Maddow

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
A medical physicist, who won the 1977 Nobel Price in Physiology/Medicine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalyn_Sussman_Yalow
http://www.nndb.com/people/694/000046556/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1977/yalow-autobio.html

Ruby Bridges
The first black child to attend a white school in New Orleans. A social activist.
http://www.rubybridges.com/
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/ruby_bridges.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Bridges

Sejal Hathi
At just 15, Hathi founded Girls Helping Girls, which connects girls in the US with girls in the developing world to identify problems in their local communities — and then develop projects.
http://www.empoweragirl.org
http://ypwr.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/09/sejal-hathi/
http://handsonblog.org/tag/sejal-hathi/

Susan Sarandon
An actress and political activist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Sarandon
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000215/
http://susansarandonsite.tripod.com/

Tara McKelvey
A journalist and senior editor at The American Prospect.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/author?id=1016
http://smpa.gwu.edu/faculty/people/57
http://www.internationalreportingproject.org/fellows-editors/profile/299/

Terry Tempest Williams
An author, naturalist, and conservationist.
http://www.coyoteclan.com/
http://www.progressive.org/?q=node/334
http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/williams.html

Tina Fey
An actress, comedian, writer and producer. She has received seven Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275486/
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/tina_fey200901
http://www.tinafeyfan.com/

Tina Turner
An African American singer and actress.
http://www.tinaturnerfanclub.eu/biography.html
http://www.tinaturnerlive.com/
http://www.bestoftinaturner.com/

Toni Morrison
A novelist, editor, and professor She won the Nobel Price 1993 for Literature and the Pulitzer Price 1988.
http://www.tonimorrisonsociety.org/
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/tmorris.htm
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1993/morrison-bio.html

Tsultrim Allione
An an author and teacher for Tibetan Buddhism.
http://www.kapalatraining.com/tsultrim.htm
http://www.taramandala.org/Tsultrim.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsultrim_Allione
http://www.taramandala.org/Media.html

Wendy Kopp
The founder and CEO of Teach for America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Kopp
http://www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/our-team/
http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/wendy-kopp