Kendall and Kylie Jenner; they’re everywhere. From magazine covers to television, the Jenner clan has risen to an extreme height of fame and have been media starlets for the entirety of 2016.
If you follow just a few popular blogs, your Instagram and Twitter feeds have seen their perfectly contoured faces pop up more than once a day. While both of these girls are blossoming in their respective fields, sometimes the media finds what we like to see and feeds it to us relentlessly, ignoring all the other incredible people and things happening beyond the borders of our LED phone screens.
The following are four women you probably don’t know, but definitely should.
- Susan Wojcicki
Susan is the CEO of your favorite website to watch cat videos on: Youtube. Being hired as Google employee number 18, Wojcicki originally rented out her garage to Google’s co-founders and later joined the team. Rising to senior vice president of advertising and commerce, Wojciki oversaw some of Google’s largest projects including AdSense and AdWord. In 2006, she urged her bosses at Google to purchase YouTube and was later made CEO of the continually popular video sharing site. If this all isn’t impressive enough, Wojcicki was the first pregnant woman at Google, and her research into paid maternity leave has helped lead to Google’s progressive stance on the subject, granting 18 weeks paid maternity leave to mothers and 12 weeks to fathers.
- Anita Dongre
Anita Dongre is a fashion designer from India who founded her own label, House of Anita Dongre, in 1995. Starting small, Dongre’s house reached new levels and now covers a range of styles from her namesake clothes and streetwear to her signature bridal and menswear label. Her styles and designs work to provide fashionable, design-driven clothes to the middle class. Recently, she introduced an eco-friendly label to her company, working with traditional artisans in India to create sustainable, quality pieces. Being considered a top fashion house in India, this collaboration with artisans has helped rekindle a desire and respectability for their work. Dongre has not only become wildly successful in her field, but also in providing opportunities through fashion and employment to middle and lower income Indian families.
- Jennifer Eberhardt
Jennifer is a psychology professor at Stanford University who studies how people’s judgements are influenced by race. Collaborating with experts in criminology, anthropology, and law, Eberhardt has identified the way in which physical profiling relates to crime. Her findings have revealed a concrete bias related to a greater severity in sentencing for black defendants. With these findings, she is teaming up with local law enforcement agencies to improve policing practices and to help retain trust in the communities they serve. In a time of heightened racial tensions, she is using scientific findings to bridge the gap and improve upon the policies already in place to keep communities safe.
- Muzoon Almellehan
Remember Malala Yousafzai? You should. The brave 17-year-old rose to fame through her tellings of life as a young student in Pakistan, facing brutal attacks, and being the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. Muzoon Almellehan is proving to be just as courageous, for many consider her the “Malala of Syria.” A remarkably bright young woman, Almellehan was kept from advancing her education due to the constant uprooting caused by the war. Being transferred from camp to camp and currently accepting asylum in the UK, Almellehan used her time to read, but more importantly to encourage the other members of her camp to prioritize their education, even in the face of crisis. Being all too aware of the issues young brides face, Almellehan talks to families specifically about the importance of encouraging female education as a future building tool and to not highlight marriage as the end goal. Now, her and Malala are working together to speak out in favor of women’s rights and higher education.
So next time you’re bored of your feed, or just need a little inspiration, seek out some news on these four fascinating ladies and all the amazing things they’re accomplishing.