Great Women Leaders

Since the days of ancient Egypt, women have demonstrated their skills as leaders. The last couple of hundred years, however, have seen increasing numbers of self-made women of distinction take their place on the world stage, many in positions of leadership. This new title in our Women’s Hall of Fame Series profiles a fine selection of these trailblazers, both past and present. They include Roberta Jamieson, Chief of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory; Golda Meir, first female prime minister of Israel (and third in the world); Marie Therese Casgrain, first woman to head a political party in Quebec (CCF Party, which later became the NDP); Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, an act of defiance that sparked the American civil rights movement; and Wanagari Maathai of Kenya, who founded successful grassroots movements on issues of the environment and sustainable development and went on to become the first woman in central or eastern Africa to hold a PhD and head a university department, as well as serve as a member of parliament. Educational, inspiring and fun!