Women who left a mark in 2021

Women from all across the globe are gradually stepping up and leaving a mark in their respective fields. This year has been no different. There are numerous women around the world whose life story inspire numerous others and their achievements make us feel proud. Although we get to hear and celebrate a lot of these stories, there are many more who remain unheard of.

Here are a few note-worthy women who are inspiration to millions and are truly amazing ladies:

Kamala Harris

She became the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States of America, thus becoming the highest-ranking female official in the history of USA. Harris is also the first African-American and the first Asian-American Vice-President.

She is the highest-ranking female official in the history of USA.Wikipedia

Vanita Gupta

Born to Indian immigrant parents in Philadelphia, Vanita is the first Indian-American person to become United States Associate Attorney General.

Avril Haines

Haines is the first woman to serve as Director of National Intelligence. She had been nominated by US President Joe Biden. Later she became his first Cabinet member after being confirmed by the Senate on Inauguration Day in 2021. Previously she had served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and had also been Deputy National Security Advisor during the Barack Obama administration. In both these roles she had been the first woman.

Also Read : Rani Abbakka : the first Woman Freedom Fighter of India

Janet Yellen

The Treasury Department of the US government had been founded in 1789. This year will be the first time that a woman, Janet Yellen, will be heading it. Economist Janet also became the first woman to serve as chair of the Federal Reserve.

The fencer is an eight-time national champion.Wikipedia

Also known as Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi, she is the first Indian to qualify for the Olympics in the fencing category. She got selected in one of the two spots available for Asia & Oceania through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method, at the Fencing World Cup held in March 2021. The fencer, an eight-time national champion, has a number of firsts written beside her name. She was also the first Indian to win a gold medal at the senior Commonwealth Fencing Championship in Canberra in 2019.

Sarah Thomas

In the 100-year history of NFL (National Football League, USA), Sarah Thomas is the first full-time female referee. She was also the first woman to referee at an NFL playoff game in 2019, and the first woman to work a major college football game.

Lee Kiefer

She became the first American fencer, of any gender, to win a gold medal in individual foil. Kiefer achieved this feat at the Tokyo Olympics this year.

Chloé Zhao

She is the second woman to win best director at the Oscar in its 93-year history.Wikipedia

She became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director. Zhao also became the first woman of colour to win the Best Director award at the Academy Awards. She is the second woman to win best director at the Oscar in its 93-year history. Her movie 'The Nomadland', was about the life of a middle-aged, van-dwelling American woman who led a nomadic lifestyle.

Emerald Fennell

For the Oscars this year (2021), a lot of women had received nominations. Emerald Fennell along with Chloé Zhao were nominated for best director. This was the first time two women were nominated in the category. Fennell had written and directed the movie 'Promising Young Woman', a black comedy psychological thriller. The movie centered around a medical school drop-out who dedicated herself towards catching predatory men. She also tries to take revenge for the rape and death of her best friend, but dies eventually.

Wally Funk

At 82 years of age, Wally Funk became the oldest person to fly to space. She had earlier been part of NASA's Mercury 13 program that had trained female astronauts in the 1960s, but the program was shut down and none of those astronauts went to space. Funk finally got her chance as she joined Jeff Bezos on his New Shepard rocket, which was launched to the edge of space and successfully landed back on earth on the 20^th of July. She overtook NASA astronaut John Glenn, who was 77 years old when on his last mission, and became the oldest person ever to fly to space.

She became the oldest person ever to fly to space.Wikipedia

Seema Kumari

The 17-year-old girl is the daughter of illiterate parents, who work as subsistence farmers at Dahu village in Ormanjhi block in the state of Jharkhand in India. She came into the spotlight after receiving a full scholarship to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Seema had also been accepted at Ashoka University, Middlebury College and Trinity College. After completing her education abroad, she plans to return to India and work for gender equality.

These women led and paved the path so that it becomes easier for others to follow.

(Keywords : women, achievement, leading, inspire, celebrate, Kamala Harris, Vanita Gupta, Avril Haines, Janet Yellen, Bhavani Devi, Sarah Thomas, Lee Kiefer, Emerald Fennell, Chloé Zhao, Wally Funk, Seema Kumari.)