This series celebrates women who are defying the odds and making a difference in their careers and in the world. These women are educators, businesswomen, nonprofit leaders, media personalities and everyone in between, proving that leaders come from all walks of life. The goal is for young girls and women to see role models doing what they are passionate about and feeling inspired to take action.
Dr. Audrey Evans is an esteemed oncologist whose career has spanned more than 60 years. As a young girl growing up in England, her parents always made her believe she could do anything she set her mind to -- and she did just that. With a passion for people and a purpose for serving others, Dr. Evans found her true calling in caring for sick children.
Abandoned by her mom at just four months old, the odds were against Dr. Scharmaine Lawson-Baker from the start, but she overcame all obstacles and achieved her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner. After Hurricane Katrina tore through her hometown, she jumped into action, treating patients in the devastated area while also bringing national attention to the medical tragedy facing her community.
Ericka Lassair was a rising star on the financial scene with cooking skills to boot. But after Hurricane Katrina ruined her hometown of New Orleans, she traded her career in corporate America for one in the culinary world in order to open a restaurant and breathe new life into the local economy. Now, Lassair is the owner and operator of Diva Dawg Food Truck, specializing in Creole-style hot dogs.
Farah Alibay is a rising star at NASA and is on a mission to inspire young girls to join the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community. In fact, women currently make up less than 25% of the total STEM workforce. Alibay continues to excel as a systems engineer, building unmanned spacecraft to search for life throughout the universe.
As an award-winning journalist, author and professor, Farai Chideya has used her life experiences, both good and bad, to help others put "the puzzle pieces of their lives" together.
From Hooters hostess to one of the most prominent business figures in the country, Kat Cole has skyrocketed through the corporate ranks, all while lifting up others along the way. As a new mom, this powerhouse gets candid about marriage, motherhood and the importance of giving back.
Lauren Lake refuses to be labeled. No matter what career she's tried, she's conquered it: she's a lawyer, a professional singer, an interior designer and now serves as a judge on the Emmy award-winning series "Lauren Lake's Paternity Court." Her mission is to live limitlessly, and to empower women everywhere to do the same.
Lauren Scruggs, a model and fashion blogger, found herself in the news in December 2011 after a plane propeller accident robbed her of her left eye and arm. Instead of focusing on the bad, Lauren chose to embrace everything good in life - both for herself and for those around her. She's since launched the Lauren Scruggs Kennedy Foundation with a mission to provide prostheses to women in need.
In 2004, Luma Mufleh took a wrong turn that changed the trajectory of her life. As a gay Arab woman, she lived in fear in her home country of Jordan, where homosexuality was a death sentence. Hoping for a fresh start, she escaped to the US. After years of heartache, Luma found her purpose when she met a group of refugee kids who wanted to play soccer.
Meg Saligman is an artist who has made some of the most influential and thought-provoking installations and murals in the world. She's designed works commemorating legends like Martin Luther King Jr. to highlight race relations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and built the famed "Knotted Grotto" installation, engaging over 150,000 participants for Pope Francis' 2015 visit to Philadelphia.
Paralyzing fear has been a defining factor in Michelle Poler's life ever since she was a little girl. She grew up in Venezuela, ranked as the second most dangerous country in the world, and was surrounded by a family of Holocaust survivors haunted by their past. Now, Poler has stopped hiding from her fears and instead runs towards them, all while documenting her journey for the world to see.
Mo'ne Davis became a sports icon when she was just 13 as the first girl to ever pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history. But now, as the 16-year-old focuses on the future and making her basketball dreams a reality, Mo'ne Davis looks back on her journey to stardom and celebrates the team that helped make her an inspiration for kids around the country.
Patrice Banks is a former DuPont engineer-turned-automotive entrepreneur who's on a mission to makeover the male-dominated car repair industry. While more women have licenses than men, and shell out over $300 billion annually on vehicle maintenance, the automotive repair force is only 2% female. Banks decided it is time to change that statistic.
An estimated 8,000 girls in Tanzania drop out of school each year due to pregnancy or forced marriage. Polly Dolan is determined to break that cycle through the SEGA Girls School that she launched 2008. Since opening, this scholarship-based secondary school for at-risk girls has grown into a 30-acre campus that serves 200 girls each year.
In the United States, one person dies every 62 minutes as the result of an eating disorder. 15-year-olds Kristina Saffran and Liana Rosenman decided to change the future of treatment for themselves and others as the co-founders of Project HEAL, a non-profit that's become the largest in the US for delivering prevention, treatment financing and recovery support for people with eating disorders.
Inspired by Pope Francis, Mother Teresa and Jon Bon Jovi, Sister Mary Scullion was named by TIME Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" for her relentless dedication to eradicating homelessness. Her organization, Project HOME, has saved thousands of people from living on the streets and is recognized as a model for ending homelessness nationwide.
As a child, Yasmine Mustafa experienced terror hiding out in a Kuwaiti bomb shelter during the Gulf War. But the birth of her brother on US soil led her on a 20-year path to American citizenship. Now, she's the CEO and founder of ROAR for Good, a self-defense wearable technology company aimed at diminishing attacks against women and addressing the underlying causes of violence.