The Financial Times’ ’25 most influential women of 2022′ list published in early December includes women who are changing the world in their own ways, such as Sanna Marin, Serena Williams, and Francesca Bellettini.
Leaders, heroines, creative women. They are the 25 women who, according to the Financial Times, left their mark on the past year, shaping the present and the future with their work.
The list includes athletes, civil rights activists, CEOs, heads of state, philanthropists, writers, musicians, actors, Nobel laureates, and even a collective: the women of Iran who, after the death of Mahsa Amini, took to the streets in a sign of protest, demanding freedom and equal rights, at the risk of their own lives.
Francesca Bellettini is the only Italian among the 25 most influential women in 2022. She has held the position of managing director at Saint Laurent since 2013. She studied at Bocconi, started her career in the world of finance, and then continued (thanks to Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli) with success in fashion until she became one of the ” few female fashion managers “.
Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first black woman to become a US Supreme Court justice in more than 230 years of history. Oleksandra Matviichuk, the Ukrainian human rights lawyer, war crimes journalist, and president of the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in mid-December.
The – unranked – the list also includes many politicians such as Mia Mottley, the first minister of Barbados and a lawyer at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Sanna Marin, the first Prime Minister of Finland (youngest elected leader in the world, only 34 years old). French Elena Marquez Mina, Vice President of Colombia; and Pakistan’s Minister of Climate Change, Sherry Rehman.
In the Heroes category, they are united by the talent, strength, and determination of athletes, doctors, and activists, starting with the most famous, former tennis player Serena Williams. Along with the Grand Slam tournament winner, we find Bezos’ philanthropist and ex-wife MacKenzie Scott and Sarina Wiegman, coach of the England women’s soccer team.
Paula Kahumbu, wildlife activist from Kenya, and Jamie Fiore Higgins, former Goldman Sachs banker and author of Bully Market in which she denounces racism and sexism on Wall Street.
Rina Gonoi, the former soldier who last summer launched a campaign demanding the truth and an official apology from the Japanese military after she was sexually assaulted by three Japan Self-Defense Force officers during her training. Also honored was the work of Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, who, following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights, is helping women in states that ban abortions through her Aid Access telemedicine service.
The last category of the list of the most influential women of 2022 is reserved for creators.
Here, the most familiar names to the general public stand out, such as Meghan Markle, who gave voice to women through the podcast Archetypes, pop star Billie Eilish who this year won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for No Time to Die, actress Michelle Yeoh of mini-series The Witcher: Blood Origin and of course author and Nobel laureate for Literature, Annie Ernaux.
