Women are changing the world and Time Magazine is celebrating these women with a very special project.
The incredible and powerful project is called “Firsts” and it celebrates strong women who have made a difference and impact on the world. These are the women that were “first” in their field to make such accomplishments.
A 22-year-old Brazilian photographer named Luisa Dörr is the mastermind behind the photos of the compelling project — all of which she shot on her iPhone.
Some of these faces may be familiar, others might be new to you. Regardless of their fame, all of these women broke boundaries and changed our world for the better. Meet the women of the “Firsts” project.
1. Ellen Degeneres — The first openly gay person to star on primetime television.
Ellen has hosted her own talk show since 2003 and has received recognition from President Obama for her bravery.
2. Serena Williams — The first tennis player to win 23 Grand Slam titles in the open era.
Williams has been playing tennis since 1995 and has four Olympic gold medals.
3. Aretha Franklin — The first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Franklin has 18 Grammy Awards under her belt.
4. Oprah Winfrey — The first woman to own and produce her own talk show.
The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25-years and is the highest-rated talk show in history.
5. Gabby Douglas — The first gymnast to win solo and team all-around gold medals at one Olympics.
Douglas won three gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She helped her team win gold in 2011 and 2015 at the world championships.
6. Ava Duvernay — The first black woman to direct a film nominated for an Oscar.
DuVernay directed the wildly successful “Selma.” It was nominated for Best Picture. She also directed “13th” which was nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
7. Mazie Hirono — The first Asian-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
Hirono was born in Japan and elected to Hawaii’s house of representatives in 1980. She served in the U.S House of Representatives from 2007-2013. She’s been Senator since 2013.
8. Mo’ne Davis — The first girl to pitch a shutout and win a game in the Little League World Series.
The Monarchs won two games in the Little League World Series in 2014. She now plays basketball.
9. Madeline Albright — The first woman to become U.S. Secretary of State.
Before serving as Secretary of State, Albright was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. from 1993-1997.
10. Kathryn Sullivan — The first American woman to walk in space.
Sullivan spent 15 years with NASA before becoming chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She later served as Administrator of the NOAA from 2014-2017.
11. Patricia Bath — The first person to invent and demonstrate laserphaco cataract surgery.
Bath was the first female African-American doctor to patent a medical device, the Laserphaco Probe, in 1988.
12. Loretta Lynch — The first African-American woman to become U.S. Attorney General.
Lynch served as U.S. Attorney general from 2015-2017.
13. Kathryn Smith — The first woman to become a full-time NFL coach.
Smith started as an intern with the New York Jets. She left her coaching job with the Buffalo Bills in 2017.
14. Michelle Phan — The first woman to build at $500 million company from a web series.
Phan launched the successful subscription company Ipsy, as well as her own cosmetic brand EM Cosmetics.
15. Nikki Haley — The first Indian-American woman to be elected governor.
Haley was the governor of South Carolina from 2011-2017. She is now U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
16. Melinda Gates — The first woman to give away more than $40 billion.
Gates, who has degrees in computer science and economics as well as business administration, worked at Microsoft from 1987 to 1996. She is a co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
17. Lori Robinson — The first woman to lead a top-tier U.S. combat command.
In 2016, Robinson became the highest-ranking woman in U.S. military history. She served as leader of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.
18. Ursula Burns — The first Black woman to run a Fortune 500 company.
Burns recently retired as chair of Xerox. She was CEO of the company from 2009-2016.
19. Rachel Maddow — The first openly gay anchor to host a prime-time news program.
Maddow continues to host the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
20. Barbara Walters — The first woman to co-anchor a network evening news program.
Walters spent more than 50 years in journalism. She retired from the talk show The View in 2014.
21. Janet Yellen — The first woman to chair the Federal Reserve.
Yellen, formerly an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, is the chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.
22. Sheryl Sandberg — The first woman to become a social media billionaire.
Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and was the first woman named to the company’s board of directors. She founded the nonprofits Lean In and Option B.
23. Eileen Collins — The first woman to command a space shuttle.
Collins became an astronaut in 1991 and served as a pilot or commander on four spaceflights before retiring from NASA in 2006.
24. Sylvia Earle — The first woman to become chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Earle is president and chair of Mission Blue. They are an organization that advocates for the protection of our oceans.
25. Ilhan Omar — The first Somali-American Muslim person to become a legislator.
Omar was elected on Nov. 8, 2016, to represent Minneapolis’ District 60B in the Minnesota house of representatives.
26. Ann Dunwoody — The first woman to become a 4-star general in the U.S. military.
Dunwoody served in the military for almost four decades. She retired in 2012 as commander of the Army Materiel Command.
27. Mae Jemison — The first woman of color in space.
Mae went to space in 1992 on the Endeavour. She also holds degrees in medicine and engineering.
28. Rita Moreno — The first woman to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award.
Only 12 people have won all four coveted awards, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony — also known as the EGOT.
29. Danica Patrick — The first woman to lead in the Indy 500 and Dayton 500.
30. Cindy Sherman — The first woman to break $1 million for a photography sale.
Sherman is known for her self-portraits.
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