Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston (1963 - 2012)

American singer, actor, film producer and philanthropist;

one of the best-selling music artists of all time;

winner of numerous accolades,

including 2 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards

(with 2 Grammy Hall of Fame honours).

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000)

Austrian-born American actor and avid inventor;

1940s Hollywood bombshell beauty and movie star at MGM Studio;

in World War II, a pioneer of frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology,

(a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes designed

to defeat the threat of radio jamming by the Axis);

posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak (1982 or 1983 -     )

Canadian First Nations politician,

current Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations

Dame Carol Ann Duffy

Dame Carol Ann Duffy (1955 -     )

Scottish poet, playwright and professor;

first woman, first Scottish-born person and

first openly lesbian poet to be appointed

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (2009-2019)

Katie Simpson

Katie Simpson (19?? -     )

Canadian journalist,

currently foreign correspondent for

CBC News based in Washington, D.C.

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston (1891 - 1960)

American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker;

a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s;

her most famous novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937).

Janice Joplin

Janice Joplin (1943 - 1970)

American singer-songwriter and performer

in psychedelic rock, blues rock, soul and blues genres;

lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company

and also a solo artist.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989 -     )

American progressive politician and activist;

elected since 2019 as the Democratic member

of Congress for New York's 14th District;

affiliated with Democratic Socialists of America

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown (2004 -     )

British actor best known for

portraying "Eleven" in Netflix's

sci-fi series Stranger Things (2016 -     ).

Margaret Laurence

Margaret Laurence (1926 - 1987)

Canadian novelist and short story writer;

a key figures in Canadian literature;

winner of two Governor-General's Awards;

best known novels include The Stone Angel and The Diviners.

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon (1942 - 2024)

American song leader, composer, professor of American history,

curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist;

founding member of the Freedom Singers (1960s) and

founder of the all-black female a cappella ensemble 

Sweet Honey in the Rock (1973).

Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner (1878 - 1968)

Austrian-Swedish physicist;

one of the scientists instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission;

driven from her university positions in Germany

by Nazi Germany's Nuremberg Laws against Jews;

nominated 49 times for a Nobel Prize but was excluded

from the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for nuclear fission.

Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile (1981 -     )

American singer-songwriter and producer;

activist and fundraisser for many social causes

through her Looking Out Foundation;

recipient of 11 Grammy Awards and 2 Emmy Awards.

Sarah McBride

Sarah McBride (1990 -     )

American longtime political and trans activist;

first openly transgender member of the United States Congress (1925).

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams (1943 -     )

American actor and singer;

recipient of Tony Award for

Best Actress in a Musical (1968);

currently winning new fans as

"Blind Al" in the Deadpool franchise.

Laura Secord

Laura Secord (1775 - 1868)

United Empire Loyalist farm woman of Queenston, Ontario, Canada;

During the War of 1812 with the USA, while her region was

under invading American occupation, she learned of enemy plans to attack,

so under cover of darkness, she walked 32 km (20 miles) through

woods and swamps to warn the British forces defending Canada.

Dame Joanna Lumley

Dame Joanna Lumley (1946 -     )

British actor, author, TV producer, and

activist in human rights and animal welfare;

recipient of 2 BAFTA TV Awards for her role as

Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012).

Anna Sawai

Anna Sawai (1992 -     )

New Zealand-Japanese actor and singer;

Star of the historical drama series Shōgun (2024),

for which she has received Primetime Emmy,

Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois (1911 - 2010)

French-American artist of sculpture, 

installation art, painting and printmaking;

Known for abstract expressionism,

surrealism and feminism in her art;

One of her best-known sculptures is

of a pregnant spider entitled Maman (1999),

here pictured at the National Gallery of Canada.

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper (1906 - 1992)

American computer scientist, mathematician, and

United States Navy Rear Admiral;

a pioneer of computer programming, she devised the theory of

machine-independent programming languages, and created

FLOW-MATIC and COBOL;

writer of the world's first computer manual.

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks (1913 - 2005)

American seamstress, secretary and 

activist in the civil rights movement; 

her 1955 arrest in Montgomery, AL, for

refusing to move to the back of a bus was a

pivotal act of anti-segregation resistance;

subsequent recipient of many honours including

the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Zuleyka Silver

Zuleyka Silver (1991 -     )

Mexican-American actor and model;

Currently portraying Audra Charles on

The Young and the Restless

Mélanie Joly

Mélanie Joly (1979 -     )

Canadian lawyer and Liberal Member of Parliament;

Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Trudeau government;

currently providing outstanding service on behalf of Canada

concerning the Tariff Trade War with the USA

and the Russian war on Ukraine.

Beautiful Women of the World, Unite!

Olena Zelenska

Olena Zelenska (1978 -     )

Ukrainian screenwriter and current First Lady of Ukraine;

Humanitarian activist on behalf of the Ukrainian people,

particularly orphans, children, the elderly and disabled.

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack (1937 - 2025)

American singer and pianist;

Best-known chart-topping singles include:

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

and Killing Me Softly with His Song.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé (1981 -     )

American singer-songwriter, actor, and businesswoman;

most awarded and nominated artist in the history of the Grammy Awards;

most awarded artist at the BET, NAACP Image, and Soul Train Music Awards;

activist and fundraiser for many progressive causes.

Cassandra Peterson

Cassandra Peterson (1951 -     )

American actor;

Creator and long-time performer of 

horror hostesss character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark;

Champion and icon of the LGBTQ+ community.

She also just donated to National Public Radio

the proceeds from selling her Tesla.

See a fun video of the event here!

Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow (1962 -     )

American singer-songwriter;

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2023);

Supporter and fundraiser for progressive issues.

Her latest supportive gesture --

Shirley Ann Jackson

Shirley Ann Jackson (1946 -     )

American physicist.

First African American woman to earn a doctorate

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, 1973).

Inductee of the National Women's Hall of Fame (1998) for

"her significant contributions as a distinguished scientist and

advocate for education, science, and public policy".

Joan Baez

Joan Baez (1941 -     )

American singer-songwriter of anthemic folk music

about protest and social justice;

activist in many progressive causes;

inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.