list 50 women little girls should admire instead of symbols of stupidity and weakness

I decided not to list actors or musicians but real women who make real differences in our everyday world. It has been challenging and rewarding. I am pleased to complete my list with someone who has had a huge part in my upbringing and has influenced the lives of many people in my community.

My Grandma Ruth. She is 93 years old this year. I guess I’ll start way back in the day. She attended CU and became a teacher. She met my grandfather when she came out to the plains for a teaching job. She taught a school house full of children over a number of years. Had seven children herself who grew up to be teachers, principals, engineers, inventors and architects. She taught me to read, write, and explore the world. Later after my mother died she basically raised me which was no small feat for a woman in her 80’s. Today she lives in an assisted living center where she still enjoys Upwords, crossword puzzles, bingo, and visiting with friends and family.

My boss I’m sure she wouldn’t want me to list her name however she has had an amazing and difficult life that inspires me to do my best.

A short bio- she established the first battered women’s shelter in our area, is a strong advocate for women’s rights, married a black man far before it was socially acceptable, obtained large amounts of funding through grants for numerous worthy causes, and she has battled cancer and won.

Mahony graduated from MIT in 1894 and was one of the first women to become a licensed architect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Mahony_Griffin

Lawrence built one of the fastest growing advertising agencies in the 20th century, earning billings of over $100 million in less than five years. She broke the conventional mold of television advertising by using dramatic/theatrical scenes to convey a product’s message instead of “talking heads” or testimonials. She developed the “Quality is Job #1” campaign for Ford, the “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” campaign for Alka-Seltzer, and the “I Love New York” tourism campaign. She was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, was the first women to head a major advertising agency, and was also the first women to list her company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Rudkin began her business at her family estate, Pepperidge Farm, after the success of her all natural home baked bread (originally made to relieve her sons’ allergies). She gradually expanded her business to include Belgian cookies, frozen pastries, poultry stuffing and dinner rolls. The firm employed mostly women during a period when women in the work place were not commonplace. Rudkin orchestrated the sale Pepperidge Farm to Campbell Soup Company in 1960.

http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/MargaretRudkin.aspx

Procope founded her company to initially provide automobile and home owners insurance for the underserved African-American community in New York City. When insurance coverage was denied to certain minority communities after the race riots in 1968, Procope was instrumental in the development of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) legislation which has been adopted by 26 states. Over the years, Procope dramatically expanded her business to include commercial lines of coverage and in the process secured business from over 75 Fortune 500 companies. Hers was the first and only minority-owned business on New York’s Wall Street.

http://www.essence.com/essence/summit/bio_e_procope.html

Lisa M. Tate works for WomenHeart a Washington-based advocacy organization focusing on women with heart disease, recently appointed as the organization’s new CEO. Tate, who previously served 14 years with the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), and six years before that with the American Academy of Pediatrics, is no stranger to public affairs in the health advocacy arena.

http://www.womenheart.org/index.asp

http://www.womenheart.org/pdf/About-Lisa-M-Tate-WomenHeart-CEO.pdf

She became the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history. She is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan.
I do not agree with every thing she has done but she is a good example of what one can accomplish.

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/bhu0bio-1

and all of those who work to make sure her legacy lives on.

Meena was a founder of RAWA.
RAWA is the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women’s rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977.

http://www.rawa.org/meena.html
http://www.rawa.org/index.php

Waris Dirie-for her work against female genital mutilation. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation.

http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2958/Dirie-Waris.html