Simone de Beauvoir

Author & foundational feminist, in 1949, she published The Second Sex and revolutionized feminist thought by exposing a long-hidden truth – that there is no female nature. She consulted biology, history, mythology, literature, ethnology, medicine and psychoanalysis to question the roles assigned to women.


Audre Lorde


A self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” she used the power of her words to confront and address injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Her influential essays such as “The Master’s Tools Will Not Dismantle the Master’s House” continue to lead the conversation on social justice movements today.


Ida Wells-Barnett


An American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She became the most famous black woman in America, during a life that was focused on combating prejudice and violence, and fighting for equality for African American women.


Hedy Lamarr


Made history with her femme fatale persona on the big screen, working with stars like Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. But beyond the screen starlet, she was also a thriving female inventor. She devised a method of encrypting signals to prevent enemy spies listening to sensitive information, which became the underlying method of how we use Wi-Fi today.


Amelia Earhart

As the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean, she wasn’t just making aviation history. She also shattered beliefs of where a woman’s “place” was, and it certainly wasn’t believed to be in the pilots seat.


Raven Wilkinson

The first African-American woman to dance for a major classical ballet company. She broke this barrier in 1955 when she signed to dance with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She was promoted to soloist during her second season.