According to Forbes, they “selected the 100 most influential women from six categories or power bases: billionaires, business, lifestyle (including entertainment and fashion), media, nonprofits and politics.”
To determine the rank within each category, as well as overall rank on the list, they “applied three metrics: dollars, a traditional and social media component and power base points.”
There is one African American in the top 10:
No. 8 Michelle Obama – First Lady
Two more in the top 20:
No. 14 Oprah Winfrey – Media Personality
No. 18 Beyonce Knowles – Entertainer, Designer
Two more in the top 50:
No. 27 Ursula Burns – CEO, Xerox
No. 36 Helene Gayle – CEO, CARE USA
One in the bottom 50:
No. 95 Risa Lavizzo-Mourey – CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Though some might take exception to the head of Harpo Productions being listed as a “media personality” instead of the entertainment mogul and billionaire she is, reading through the list and learning about these women provides a great lesson for all of us in what excellence looks like.
Also on the list are three black women from the African continent:
No. 62 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf – President of Liberia
No. 87 Ngozi Okonjo Iweala – Finance Minister, Nigeria
No. 97 Onkululeko Nyembezi-Heita – CEO, ArcelorMittal South Africa
To view the entire list, visit Forbes.com.
