01of 14Vanessa BryantBrian Bowen SmithBryant, who tragically lost husband Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna in 2020, is honoring her loved ones' memories through the newly relaunchedMamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.The organization is dedicated to creating equal opportunity for underserved athletes and young women in sports. “As with so many industries, women aren’t prioritized as athletes,” says Vanessa, who serves as president of the board of directors. “We want to provide girls with opportunities to showcase their talent — and to feel just as important as boys do, because they deserve it.”
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Vanessa Bryant
Brian Bowen Smith
Bryant, who tragically lost husband Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna in 2020, is honoring her loved ones' memories through the newly relaunchedMamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.The organization is dedicated to creating equal opportunity for underserved athletes and young women in sports. “As with so many industries, women aren’t prioritized as athletes,” says Vanessa, who serves as president of the board of directors. “We want to provide girls with opportunities to showcase their talent — and to feel just as important as boys do, because they deserve it.”
02of 14Marisa HamamotoKyle MaclennanHamamoto grew up as a ballet dancer, but a rare form of stroke left her temporarily paralyzed from the neck down in 2006. After she walked out of the hospital, she decided she wanted to re-dedicate her life to dance, but in a different way. She discovered wheelchair dance, and in 2015, founded Infinite Flow, a professional dance company that employs dancers with and without disabilities. (Pictured, Hamamoto dancing with partner Piotr Iwanicki.) “We’re changing the narrative around disability, around diversity and inclusion, using dance as a way to dismantle stereotypes,” she says. “I know I’m standing up for the right things.”
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Marisa Hamamoto
Kyle Maclennan
Hamamoto grew up as a ballet dancer, but a rare form of stroke left her temporarily paralyzed from the neck down in 2006. After she walked out of the hospital, she decided she wanted to re-dedicate her life to dance, but in a different way. She discovered wheelchair dance, and in 2015, founded Infinite Flow, a professional dance company that employs dancers with and without disabilities. (Pictured, Hamamoto dancing with partner Piotr Iwanicki.) “We’re changing the narrative around disability, around diversity and inclusion, using dance as a way to dismantle stereotypes,” she says. “I know I’m standing up for the right things.”
03of 14Amanda GormanAmanda Gorman.Djeneba AduayomGorman created one of the biggest moments of the 2021 presidential inauguration when she performed her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” And the former National Youth Poet Laureate is just getting started. Considering a political career of her own, she tells PEOPLE, “You have to speak to the world you want to see before you create it.”
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Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman.Djeneba Aduayom
Gorman created one of the biggest moments of the 2021 presidential inauguration when she performed her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” And the former National Youth Poet Laureate is just getting started. Considering a political career of her own, she tells PEOPLE, “You have to speak to the world you want to see before you create it.”
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Camila Cabello
Gabriella Rodriguez and Camila Cabello.Omar Cruz
05of 14Kimberly LaddAndrea MoralesLadd battled an opioid dependency and later, saw her daughter do the same. Stunned at the lack of resources for people in their position, she founded the Maury County Prevention Coalition, dedicated to providing education and resources for people looking for help. “If we’re to prevent substance-use disorder, we have to do it together,” she says.
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Kimberly Ladd
Andrea Morales
Ladd battled an opioid dependency and later, saw her daughter do the same. Stunned at the lack of resources for people in their position, she founded the Maury County Prevention Coalition, dedicated to providing education and resources for people looking for help. “If we’re to prevent substance-use disorder, we have to do it together,” she says.
06of 14Stacey AbramsStacey Abrams.Erik UmpheryAbrams' name was everywhere this fall and winter as she helped mobilize 800,000 new voters in Georgia. “It isn’t my job to ensure one political ideology is dominant,” she says. “It is my job to solve the problems that people face.” Her efforts helped spur more necessary conversations about the importance of — and challenges to — voting rights.
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Stacey Abrams
Stacey Abrams.Erik Umphery
Abrams' name was everywhere this fall and winter as she helped mobilize 800,000 new voters in Georgia. “It isn’t my job to ensure one political ideology is dominant,” she says. “It is my job to solve the problems that people face.” Her efforts helped spur more necessary conversations about the importance of — and challenges to — voting rights.
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Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.Cheriss May
08of 14Dr. Katalin KarikóDr. Katalin Karikó.Rachel WisniewskiThe senior vice president at BioNTech was one of the people responsible for figuring out how mRNA could be used to create a new category of therapeutic medicine. Her efforts eventually helped Pfizer make the first COVID-19 vaccine using the molecule. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Thisis it!'” she says.
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Dr. Katalin Karikó
Dr. Katalin Karikó.Rachel Wisniewski
The senior vice president at BioNTech was one of the people responsible for figuring out how mRNA could be used to create a new category of therapeutic medicine. Her efforts eventually helped Pfizer make the first COVID-19 vaccine using the molecule. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Thisis it!'” she says.
09of 14Dr. Kathrin JansenDr. Kathrin Jansen.Natalie KeyssarThe veteran scientist, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, led more than 700 researchers to create the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. “I felt an enormous sense of relief,” she says of the end result.
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Dr. Kathrin Jansen
Dr. Kathrin Jansen.Natalie Keyssar
The veteran scientist, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, led more than 700 researchers to create the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. “I felt an enormous sense of relief,” she says of the end result.
10of 14Dr. Lisa JacksonDr. Lisa Jackson.Chona KasingerJackson, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, led the world’s first COVID-19 clinical vaccine trial, overseeing the first shot of the Moderna vaccine in Seattle on March 16, 2020, and then later pivoting to help with the final stages of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson trials. Her mantra through the process: “Failure is not an option.”
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Dr. Lisa Jackson
Dr. Lisa Jackson.Chona Kasinger
Jackson, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, led the world’s first COVID-19 clinical vaccine trial, overseeing the first shot of the Moderna vaccine in Seattle on March 16, 2020, and then later pivoting to help with the final stages of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson trials. Her mantra through the process: “Failure is not an option.”
11of 14Naomi OsakaJason Heidrich/GettyThe tennis champ used her arrivals to the U.S. Open to spotlight Black victims of racial profiling and police brutality, wearing names like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd on her masks each day. “It meant a lot to me that I could carry on their legacies,” she says. “I was playing with a different purpose.”
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Naomi Osaka
Jason Heidrich/Getty
The tennis champ used her arrivals to the U.S. Open to spotlight Black victims of racial profiling and police brutality, wearing names like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd on her masks each day. “It meant a lot to me that I could carry on their legacies,” she says. “I was playing with a different purpose.”
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Crystal Echo Hawk
Ryan Red Corn
13of 14Sofia VergaraAart Streber/NBC/GettyThe actress partnered with Kiva, a nonprofit that distributes crowd-sourced microloans to low-income entrepreneurs, to help small businesses suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, they’ve raised $152 million for business owners. “I knew I had to do something,” she says of reaching business owners worldwide, “something that was going to make a difference.”
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Sofia Vergara
Aart Streber/NBC/Getty
The actress partnered with Kiva, a nonprofit that distributes crowd-sourced microloans to low-income entrepreneurs, to help small businesses suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, they’ve raised $152 million for business owners. “I knew I had to do something,” she says of reaching business owners worldwide, “something that was going to make a difference.”
14of 14Photographer - Brian Bowen Smith; Stylist - Law Roach/The Only AgencyFor more from PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
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Photographer - Brian Bowen Smith; Stylist - Law Roach/The Only Agency
For more from PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
