TIME has released its annual 100 Most Influential People list, and this year’s list is definitely one for the ladies.
Spanning categories of pioneers, artists, leaders, titans and icons, five women have landed the coveted number one spot in each vertical. Here are the top in each category:
Pioneers: Samantha Bee
Actress and comedian Jane Curtin said of Samantha Bee: “She is a tiny package of fire and kittens. She purrs and she burns…And as the host of TBS’s Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, she has given voice to all the women who have wanted to take on the political establishment—women like me.”
Curtin continued: “She is as smart as a whip and, as far as I’m concerned, always on the side of right and funny. Did I say she was smart? Because she really is.”
Read Curtin’s tribute in its entirety here.
Artists: Emma Stone
Here’s what Brie Larson wrote in part about fellow Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone: “…What I really admire about Emma the person—as well as Emma the actor—is that she is never afraid to show us the most difficult thing you can show the world: yourself. What that entails is not always pretty. But with Emma, it is real, and it is beautiful.”
Read Larson’s full tribute here.
Leaders: Theresa May
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Bill English had this to say about the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May: “I learned quickly why she emerged from the Brexit aftermath as leader: she has will and she has clarity. In charting the U.K.’s renewed relationship with Europe and the rest of the world, she has met the deepest demand of leadership: to provide direction and reassurance in a time of upheaval and confusion.
“She is the right person to guide the democratic will of Britain through the complexity of separating the U.K. from the European Union.”
Read his tribute in its entirety here.
Titans: Janet Yellen
Nobel-prize winning professor Joseph Stiglitz writes that Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, has “brought a sensitivity to the key issue of our day, inequality, grasping that Fed macro and regulatory policies can have profound effects on both the poor and the rich.”
He continued, writing: “In a highly politicized environment marked by extreme uncertainty, the nation needs the calm hand, expertise and wisdom of a devoted public servant like Janet Yellen.”
Read his full tribute here.
Icons: Simone Biles
Saturday Night Live comedian Leslie Jones, who also served as an Olympics correspondent in Rio, wrote this about the 20-year-old athlete who won a record-breaking four gold medals in Rio: “She is the best at it. Not the best black gymnast, not the best black-girl gymnast. The best gymnast. It really is inspiring. It’s like she’s sending a message to everyone who’s watching: No matter what you’re going through in life or what your circumstances are, you still can be No. 1. You’ve just got to work hard.”
Read Jones’ full tribute to Biles here.
Take a look at Time’s full 100 list here.
—RealClearLife
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