Women who have been politically and socially active to make the world a better place
- Audre Lorde, American feminist poet, writer, and activist
- Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Conceição Evaristo, Brazilian essayist, writer, poet, researcher
- Dian Fossey, American primatologist who studied gorillas in Rwanda
- Emmeline Pankhurst, suffragette who led the fight for women's suffrage in the UK.
- Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist
- Irene Khan, Bangladeshi-British lawyer and human rights activist
- Jane Goodall, English primatologist known for her work on animal behavior.
- Lélia Gonzalez, Brazilian anthropologist, feminist, woman rights activist, politician
- Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate
- María Elena Moyano, Peruvian social activist assassinated by the Shining Path
- Maria Ressa, Filipino-American journalist fighting for press freedom
- Marina Silva, Brazilian environmental activist and Minister of Environment
- Maya Angelou, American poet, playwright, novelist, and activist.
- Nadia Murad, Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist and survivor of the Yazidi genocide
- Naomi Klein, Canadian author of books on globalization and climate change.
- Narges Mohammadi, Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Pagu, Brazilian poet, playwright, and activist.
- Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Guatemalan indigenous activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
- Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist and key figure in the Montgomery bus boycott.
- Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and feminist
- Susan Sarandon, American actress and activist.
- Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.