Diversity On The Forbes Power Women List

At the tops of the world’s largest institutions, “diversity” seems a foreign word. Only 3% of the 500 biggest public companies in the U.S. have females CEOs. Worldwide, female heads of state can still be counted on two hands. Forbes annual list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women pinpoints the “minority” group of globally influential women. The list itself also represents a cross-section of races, ages, ethnicities and sexual preferences.

The top-10 ranking alone reveals three powerhouse black women, whose success plants the seed of possibility for generations of women to follow: Michelle Obama (No. 1), Oprah Winfrey (No. 3) and Beyonce Knowles (No. 9). The GLBT community is also well represented at the top. Openly gay Ellen DeGeneres (No. 10) has brought lesbianism to the mainstream with massive platforms on TV, Twitter and Facebook.

Lady Gaga (No. 7), too, is openly bisexual and champions gay rights on the national stage. At just 24, Gaga wields a daily audience of 25 million on Facebook and Twitter and earns $62 million a year, proving that youth is not an obstacle to wealth or influence. Indra Nooyi (No. 6), CEO of $43 billion beverage giant PepsiCo, is an Indian-American. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel (No. 4) and Australian mega-bank Westpac CEO, Gail Kelly (No. 8), reflect a growing global distribution of power.

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