The 2019 list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women celebrates women who are using their power to create change and, often, lift other women up with them. The 23 newcomers to the list made their debut for their work in industries spanning politics and policy, business, finance, media and entertainment and technology. These women are used to being the “first” and sometimes the “only” — such as Vicki Hollub (No. 47), the first woman to head a major American oil company, Sophie Wilmes (No. 65), the first woman Prime Minister of Belgium and Zuzana Čaputová (No. 80), the first female president of Slovakia.
Whether they are leading companies or countries, the members of the 2019 ranking all have this in common: They are making an impact in male-dominated fields and paving the way for the next generation of women leaders in hopes that there will be a time that the glass ceilings will be shattered once and for all.
The highest-ranked newcomer is Ursula von der Leyen (No. 4) who was appointed president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, in July 2019. She is the first woman to serve in the role and is responsible for legislation that affects more than 700 million Europeans. Von der Leyen committed to increasing gender representation in the European Commission, noting in a speech to the European Council that, “since 1958 there have been 183 commissioners. Only 35 were women.” Under her leadership, the European Commission now has 15 male and 11 female commissioners. Previously she was a cabinet member for Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor of Germany and the top-ranked woman on this year’s list for the ninth year in a row.
Next is Julie Sweet (No. 16) who became the CEO of the consultancy Accenture in September 2019. She is part of a small but growing cohort of female CEOs of S&P 500 companies, some of whom also make the list, including: IBM’s Ginni Rometty (No. 9), Oracle’s Safra Catz (No. 14) and Duke Energy Corp.’s Lynn Good (No. 59). Before ascending to firmwide CEO, Sweet was the company’s general counsel and head of its North American market.
Rounding out the top three newbies is Judith McKenna (No. 21), the CEO and president of Walmart International. She leads more than 6,000 retail stores and 700,000 associates across 26 countries. Before being tapped for the role, she was executive vice president and COO for Walmart U.S.
These are all of this year’s newcomers:
Ursula von der Leyen (No. 4)
President of the European Commission
Julie Sweet (No. 16)
CEO of Accenture
Judith McKenna (No. 21)
President and CEO of Walmart International
Jessica Tan (No. 22)
Co-CEO, COO and CIO of Ping An Group
Jessica Uhl (No. 28)
CFO of Royal Dutch Shell
Jane Fraser (No. 32)
President of Citi and CEO of Global Consumer Banking
Nirmala Sitharaman (No. 34)
Finance Minister of India
Kathy Warden (No. 37)
Chairman, President and CEO of Northrop Grumman
Vicki Hollub (No. 47)
President and CEO of Occidental Petroleum
Jennifer Salke (No. 48)
Head of Amazon Studios
Paula Santilli (No. 60)
CEO of PepsiCo Latin America
Rihanna (No. 61)
Musician and Founder of Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty
Tan Hooi Ling (No. 63)
Cofounder and COO of Grab
Sophie Wilmès (No. 65)
Prime Minister of Belgium
Jane Jie Sun (No. 69)
CEO of Ctrip
Mette Frederiksen (No. 75)
Prime Minister of Denmark
Andrea Marques de Almeida (No. 77)
CFO and Investor Relations Officer of Petrobras
Ava DuVernay (No. 79)
Writer, Producer, Director and Founder of ARRAY
Zuzana Čaputová (No. 80)
President of Slovakia
Reese Witherspoon (No. 90)
Actress and Founder of Hello Sunshine and Draper James
Renuka Jagtiani (No. 97)
Chairwoman and CEO of Landmark Group
Amina J. Mohammed (No. 98)
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Greta Thunberg (No. 100)
Climate Activist