18 Powerful Moms Who Have Changed the World

This former first lady used her platform to change the lives of children across the nation. Not only did she work with grocers to lower the cost of produce and eliminate unhealthy ingredients from ready-made food products, she also passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which authorized federal funding to school meal programs. As the mother of two daughters, she set a powerful example of serving her community and making sure the next generation has every opportunity to live a happy, healthy life.

No one can deny that the Oscar-winning actress has greatly affected the world with her many humanitarian projects. As one of the most famous mothers in the world (of six, no less!) and special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie has used her fame to bring attention to various issues, particularly those involving refugee women and children.

And after undergoing a preventative double mastectomy in 2013, Jolie has spurred many women around the world to become more proactive in their health care. That’s something we can all get behind.

Arguably the world’s most famous female executive, Sheryl Sandberg has been integral in changing the face of women in the workplace. Thanks to her bestselling book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will To Lead, the chief operating officer of Facebook and mom of two has managed to open up a national dialogue centered on encouraging more women, and mothers in particular, to “lean in” to the workplace, if that’s what they want to do.

Being one of the youngest self-made female billionaires in the world is no small feat. Following her great success, the founder and creator of Spanx — whose tuck-it-all-in undergarments are a part of practically every woman’s closet — decided to pay it forward. She founded the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation, which aims to help women worldwide become future female leaders through education and entrepreneurship.

Who doesn’t know this name? From lawyer to mother to first lady to senator to secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has a prestigious list of accomplishments on her résumé, including being the first female presidential nominee of a major US political party.

A mom of three, the former president of Chile (the first female one at that!), doctor, and the founding executive director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet is clearly a woman who holds a lot of important titles. Bachelet is a staunch advocate of women’s rights, who fights for issues including reproductive health rights, equality in the workforce, and equal access to education.

As the founder and co-chair of the Nike Foundation, single mom Maria Eitel is committed to transforming the world one girl at a time. And through her global Girl Effect movement — which is committed to bringing at least 50 million adolescent girls out of poverty by 2030 — she’s about to do just that.

Renowned economist and mother of two, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine in 2014. In her former position as the finance minister of Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala helped revitalize the nation’s economy, increased government transparency, and actively worked to clean up the country’s tarnished reputation.

Not only was human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi the first female judge in the history of Iran, she also founded both the Association for Support of Children’s Rights and the Human Rights Defense Center. All of her hard work fighting for the rights of women, children, and refugees earned the mother of two daughters the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 — which also made her the first Iranian to ever win the prize.

As the current chair and CEO of General Motors, this mother of two is the first female CEO of a major automaker … ever. If that’s not awe-worthy, we don’t know what is.

Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman to ever take the role, and continues to serve today. Born in Brooklyn, New York, this mother of two co-founded The Women’s Rights Law Reporter, a journal dedicated to the issue of gender equality. She was one of the first women to serve as a tenured professor at Columbia School of Law and went on to serve as general counsel for the ACLU. Now 86, Justice Bader Ginsburg has declared her intention to stay on the Supreme Court for now, as long as she is doing it “full steam.”

Not only does this Oscar-winning actress advocate for more representation in the African American community, stating after her Emmy win, “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that simply are not there,” but she also stands as an advocate for the Rape Foundation. Viola Davis, a mother of one, has openly shared that she is the survivor of sexual assault, and after playing the role of the organization’s founder in a 2010 film, she felt moved to join them and encourage others to visit Rape Foundation treatment centers in the hopes that they would join, too. “You must, and then let your heart do the rest,” she shared.

This professor at the University of California at Berkeley was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2015 due to her incredible discovery of a gene-editing technique that came straight from a rare strain of bacteria found in an abandoned mine. Jennifer Doudna, a mother of one, spent years with fellow scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier studying the strange repeating sequence of the bacteria they called “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” or CRISPR. The knowledge of how this bacteria used bits of RNA to fight off viral infections led the team to discover a way to add or delete genetic material from lab cells, which could revolutionize the treatment of disease as we know it.

She’s an award-winning producer, screenwriter, and author who’s the mastermind behind mega-TV hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. Not only is she changing the face of primetime television, but this mother of three is also showing women exactly how to own their power and value in the world. Her bestselling memoir, A Year of Yes, chronicles how Shonda Rhimes conquered the fears that held her back in life by saying yes to every scary opportunity that came her way.

Before she married Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Chan worked as a pediatrician at San Francisco General Hospital. Caring for children has long been her mission, even before she became a mother. In 2016, Priscilla Chan opened The Primary School, which offers education, teaching, and health care services to impoverished families in East Palo Alto, California. She also co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with her husband to “advance human potential and promote equal opportunity,” — together they have pledged that 99% of their Facebook shares will go toward charitable causes.

This mom of twins isn’t just the beautiful bride of actor and activist George Clooney, she’s also a noted humanitarian and human rights attorney, specializing in international law. Whether she’s taking on Turkish politicians over accepting responsibility for the Armenian Genocide that occurred in 1915 or calling upon the president of Egypt to release arrested Al Jazeera reporters, it is clear that being the wife of a celebrity is not the most important role of her life.

The Booksmart director and mother of two is passionate about the planet and its people. She openly advocates for women’s rights, appearing in the documentary Half the Sky to learn about the plight of women in Nairobi, Kenya. Following in her parents’ footsteps, Olivia Wilde also produced multiple documentaries to raise awareness of global issues like disaster relief, recovery, and disease epidemics. As if she wasn’t busy enough, she even co-founded Conscious Commerce, a site devoted to philanthropy and conscious living.

At the young age of 45, this former Danish politician took the helm of Denmark and became prime minister of her country. Three weeks after taking office, Helle Thorning-Schmidt oversaw the successful end of NATO’s strike missions in Libya and worked to repeal anti-immigration legislation passed by her predecessor. After losing the 2015 bid for re-election, Thorning-Schmidt, a mother of two daughters, became the CEO of Save the Children, International, which provides humanitarian and development programs in 120 countries.