The Ms. Foundation has released its second annual list of the Top Ten Female Role Models of the Year. The list includes athletes, entertainers, activists, a meteorologist, a media mogul, and a space commander.
“The Ms. Foundation’s mission is to empower women and girls to control their own lives and influence the world around them. Our role models live this mission,” said Ms. Foundation President Marie Wilson.
The women chosen have greatly excelled in their fields, becoming inspirations to other women and girls. “These women were trailblazers whose legacies will continue to live on and serve as an inspiration to women and girls everywhere,” Wilson said.
The Ms. Foundation’s 1998 Top Ten Women Role Models are:
Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady
Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, astronaut on the shuttle Columbia
Lauryn Hill, singer who works with inner-city youth
Geraldin Laybourne, who started the new multi-media company Oxygen
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players
Joanne Simpson, Chief Scientist for Meteorology at NASA’s Space Flight Center
Emily Lyons, nurse and survivor of clinic bombing who speaks on reproductive rights
Waris Dirie, former supermodel and activist who speaks out against Female Genital Mutilation
Kory Arvizu-Johnson, life-long environmental activist
Bhairavi Desai, organizer for the Taxi Workers Alliance in New York
The Ms. Foundation also honored three women lost in 1998 as Role Models in Memoriam:
Bella Abzug (1921 – 1998), controversial women’s rights advocate and public servant
Florence Griffith Joyner (1960 – 1998), record breaking Olympic gold medalist in track
Linda McCartney (1932 – 1998), animal rights activist
