Unknown Influential Women Making a Positive Change

These unknown influential women are overdue for their time in the spotlight!

From Susan B Anthony, who led the Suffragette movement in 1848 to Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat for a white man, sparking the Civil Rights movement in 1955.

Many women are influencing change in a positive direction in the world that you may not have heard of. So many women have made a difference throughout history, but we didn't have the opportunity to learn about their stories in school.

With the way our lives are set up, the convenience of information flowing online, and the speed in which stories are captured, we have the opportunity to learn about these unknown influential women in real-time.

Mona Hanna-Attisha

We've all heard the tragic mishandling of water in Flint, Michigan. The community was getting sick from the foul-smelling, and discolored water piped in from the Flint River to save money. The water wasn't treated properly, it had high amounts of lead and other toxins.

Mona Hanna-Attisha is a Pediatrician who conducted a study that proved there were high levels of lead. She revealed her findings at a press conference where she was later ridiculed by a spokesperson from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Eventually, her results were deemed to be accurate, and because of her, the State and Federal government granted the city of Flint roughly $350 million to address this crisis.

MiMi Aung

MiMi Aung has been tasked with overseeing the team that will build the helicopter projected to land on Mars in February 2021. She's been involved in other projects related to spaceflight and NASA Deep Space Network, and Terrestrial Planet Finder's formation flying program to name a few. 

She's also had a webcam installed in the cleanroom of JPL to see the helicopter's development.

Mabel Bianco

Argentinian born, Mabel Bianco, has an impressive career path. She is a physician that has improved and fought for the health services for women. She's an activist all over the globe who has introduced policies that bring attention to reproductive rights, gender reform, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS in the UN.

Mabel Bianco has served as a board member in PAHO, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO, and UNFPA, and she's an innovator in research prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Nisha Ayub

A Malaysian transgender rights activist who has been campaigning for justice for the transgender community, imprisoned for 3 months for cross-dressing, she was sent to a male prison, where she was sexually assaulted by the warden and other prison inmates for being a transgender woman. 

Nisha Ayub has been awarded the Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges award for Extraordinary Activism in 2015 and the International Women of Courage Award in 2016. Nisha has spent her life fighting against discriminatory laws against marginalized groups, including transgender people.

Judith Bakirya

Born in Uganda and raised on a farm, Judith Bakirya was awarded a scholarship to attend a prestigious secondary school, Mt St Mary's College Namagunda and another government scholarship to attend Birmingham University in the UK. She left her job in the city to return to farming. 

Bakirya used money from her savings and a small loan and founded Busaino Fruits & Trees, with more than 1,000 acres, her flourishing farm is a testament that her love and passion for farming has brought her success. Judith Bakirya believes in paying her achievements forward by honoring her mother's hard work with paying for school fees for six poor but bright girls.

She is evolving her farm into a learning model where she can teach and strengthen other smaller farms with better equipment for improved and efficient productivity while increasing the number of schools teaching kids to fight climate change.

These inspirational women from our era tell us that, as women, we need to continue fighting for rights and equality by amplifying our voices in our communities and sharing stories of other unknown influential women fighting for justice in the name of feminism!