BIPOC Thought Leaders Defined by Marquis Who’s Who in the Maker’s List

The Maker’s List also documents powerful women in finance, business and technology in celebration of Women’s History Month

UNIONDALE, NY, March 16, 2022, Marquis Who’s Who (MWW), the world’s leading biographical publisher, is proud to announce the individuals selected for the first quarter 2022 Maker’s List, celebrating BIPOC Thought Leaders. The Maker’s Lists are curated by a selection committee and compiled by MWW Maker’s List administrator Lisa Diamond with an aim to recognize both established and emerging leaders in their respective fields.

“Although fundamentally important, women’s rights have been consistently met with repression in the face of modernization,” said Lisa Diamond, the administrator of the Maker’s List. “It is remarkable that in 2022, women across the globe are still battling for sovereignty and equity even amid progress made in the past century. Pioneers such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth paved the entrance for contemporary models, including Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally Ride and Kamala Harris – warriors in the fight for a woman’s place in male-dominated spaces.” Diamond continued, “In this quarter’s installment of the Maker’s List, we seek to highlight what can be considered only a small fraction of women whose contributions to the professional arena advocate for female empowerment.”

The MWW Maker’s List series began in January 2021. Throughout the course of the year, it highlighted honorees in such topics as African American Catalysts for Change, Women Luminaries, Business and Finance Leaders, and Influencers in STEM and AAPI. The MWW Maker’s Lists have also recognized LGBTQ+ Catalysts for Change, Attorneys, Activists and Agents of Change, and Latin American Leaders, as well as Arts, Culture, Sports and Entertainment Moguls, World Leaders of Esteem, Influencers of Tomorrow and Religious Leaders. The MWW Maker’s Lists are curated by a selection committee to bring into focus outstanding leaders and change-makers across industries. Members of the selection committee hail from diverse professional backgrounds in publishing, entertainment, business, journalism, marketing, graphic design, public relations and print media.

The BIPOC Thought Leaders list includes:

• Daisy Jing: Jing is an entrepreneur and YouTube vlogger who serves as chief executive officer and founder of the multi-million-dollar beauty product line, Banish. Prior to founding her product line, Jing struggled with acne that was exacerbated by ingredients in popular skincare lines. First documenting her struggle on her YouTube channel, which has since garnered more than 70 million views, Jing was encouraged to launch her own skincare line after creating her products. Locally sourced, the ingredients in the Banish product line are organic, cruelty-free and vegan, and packaged in glass jars and bottles and wrapped with 100% recycled material. Banish was ranked the 152^nd fastest-growing company by Inc. 500, and Jing was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in manufacturing in 2018. She also gave a TEDx Talk in 2019, titled “A Tragedy Called Perfection.” Jing sits on the board of Entrepreneur Organization-Los Angeles and is a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

• Ketanji Brown Jackson: Jackson is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to sit on the Supreme Court. Commencing her career after attaining a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1996, she completed three clerkships, including one for former Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States. After a decade of legal work, including in private practice and as a public defender, she was nominated by former President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate to serve as vice-chairperson of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Thereafter, she was sworn in as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, during which time she penned nearly 600 opinions.

• Raffi Freedman-Gurspan: Freedman-Gurspan is the deputy campaign director for All on the Line, a nationwide advocacy campaign that seeks to end gerrymandering and safeguard the American democratic right to have an equal say in their government. Prior, she was appointed by former President Barack Obama as the outreach and recruitment director in the Presidential Personnel Office at The White House, in which she was recognized as the first openly transgender person to work as a White House staff member. In light of her vocal advocacy, she served as the White House’s primary LGBTQ+ liaison, also becoming the first openly transgender person in such a role. Freedman-Gurspan departed from the White House in 2017 and served the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as director of external relations until 2019, having previously served the NCTE as a policy advisor. Commencing her career after receiving a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in 2009, she joined the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and served as the City of Somerville’s LGBTQ+ liaison. Thereafter, she became a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State House, where she played an active role in passing the transgender civil rights bill that was signed into law in 2012.

• Rosalind Brewer: Brewer has served as the chief executive officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance since 2021, making her one of only two Black women chief executive officers of Fortune 500 companies. Coined by USA Today as “one of corporate America’s most prominent women and Black female executives,” Brewer is also recognized as the first Black woman to serve as group president and chief operating officer of Starbucks and chief executive officer of Sam’s Club. Following her receipt of a bachelor’s degree at Spelman College, she served Kimberly-Clark Corporation for 22 years in various executive roles, which was succeeded by appointments at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Starbucks and Walgreens Boots Alliance. In light of her historic achievements, Brewer was ranked the 27^th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Fortune and the 48^th in Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2020. Most recently, she was selected for inclusion in Forbes’ inaugural 50 Over 50 list of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators in 2021. She previously received the Spelman College Legacy of Leadership Award in 2017.

• Victor Glover: Glover is an astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who piloted the very first operational flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS). He also served as a flight engineer on the ISS for Expedition 64. Completing 168 days in orbit and participating in four spacewalks, Glover contributed to scientific investigations and technological advancements. Prior to being selected by NASA in 2013, Glover served in the U.S. Navy, having been first commissioned as an ensign in 1999. He completed preflight and advanced flight training by 2001 and served with the Blue Blasters of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-34, completing the final deployment of the USS John F. Kennedy during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Later, he was deployed three times in the Pacific. In 2012, he was selected for a legislative fellowship to the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C., and was a legislative fellow in the U.S. Senate. Glover accumulated 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft and 24 combat missions and is decorated with a Navy Commendation Medal and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.

The full BIPOC Thought Leaders list is organized alphabetically below, by first name:

• Amanda Gorman
• Arvind Krishna
• Ayo “Opal” Tometi
• Cesar R. Hernandez
• Charlene Carruthers
• Charly Palmer
• Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall
• Daisy Jing
• Dara Kennedy
• Daymond John
• Deborah Turner
• Eric Yuan
• Erica Buddington
• Feng Zhang
• God-is Rivera
• Guy Torry
• Harry Belafonte
• Issa Rae
• Jason Wright
• Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
• Kenneth Chenault
• Kenneth Frazier
• Ketanji Brown Jackson
• Lindsay Peoples Wagner
• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Marvin Ellison
• Mbugua Martin Kimani
• Mellody Hobson
• Michael Bruce Curry
• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Ofelia Zepeda
• Olga Lucia Torres
• Philip Ozuah
• Raffi Freedman-Gurspan
• Ramon Tallaj
• Raphael Warnock
• Rashida Jones
• Rebecca Martinez
• Rick Kittles and Gina Paige
• Robin Wilson (eco-designer)
• Robyn Rihanna Fenty
• Rosalind Brewer
• Ryan Lee (Lee Group Holdings)
• Shonda Rhimes
• Stacey Abrams
• Strive Masiyiwa
• Thasunda Duckett
• Victor J. Glover
• Vinnie Bagwell
• William Barber II

Marquis Who’s Who has also announced the release of its supplemental Maker’s List for the first quarter of 2022: Women in Finance, Business and Technology. The list recognizes exemplary women whose expertise in finance, business and technology has served as an inspiration to women across the globe.

The Women in Finance, Business and Technology list includes:

• Bozoma Saint John: Saint John serves as chief marketing officer for Netflix, making her the first Black C-level executive at the subscription streaming service and production company. Following her receipt of a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, she worked in the advertising industry until being named senior marketing manager at PepsiCo in 2005. Remaining with PepsiCo for nearly a decade – where she was instrumental in PepsiCo’s venture into music festival-based marketing – she then served Beats Music and Apple, serving the latter as the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music. Saint John was revered for being a figurehead of Apple’s rebranding efforts for its Apple Music software. She followed these accomplishments with appointments as chief branding officer for Uber and chief marketing officer for Endeavor. In 2022, her memoir, “The Urgent Life,” will be published by Viking Press. To attest to her success, Saint John was named among Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People, Ebony’s 100 Powerful Executives, Adweek’s Most Exciting Personalities in Advertising, and Billboard’s Female Executive of the Year and Top Women in Music.

• Katie Bouman: Bouman is a computing and mathematical sciences, electrical engineering and astronomy educator at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Specializing in computer science and imagery, she is most acclaimed for leading the development of the algorithm for imaging black holes while serving as a postdoctoral fellow on the Event Horizon Telescope Imaging team at Harvard University. Bouman was met with extensive media attention following her reaction to the first detection of the black hole shadow in April 2019, and her work with the Event Horizon Telescope project is still being expounded upon today. Following this feat, Bouman joined Caltech as an assistant professor in June 2019 and received a named professorship in 2020. Now recognized as a Rosenberg Scholar, she was the recipient of a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, the Electronic Imaging Scientist of the Year Award, the Royal Photographic Society Progress Medal, and a Caltech Faculty Teaching Award.

• Mary Barra: Barra is the chairperson and chief executive officer of General Motors. Appointed to her positions in 2014, she is recognized as the first female chief executive officer of a “Big Three” automaker. As chief executive officer, she pioneered General Motors’ advancement to driverless and electric-powered vehicles and, in 2017, the company began selling the Chevy Bolt EV. The vehicle impressively rivaled and beat Tesla to the first electric car priced under $40,000 with a range of 200 miles. Earlier, Barra served General Motors as a co-op student at 18 years old, followed by tenures in various engineering and administrative positions. She subsequently served as vice president of global manufacturing engineering, vice president of global human resources and executive vice president of global product development. In 2018, Barra was named fourth on Forbes’ Most Powerful Women list, having previously been ranked first in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list in 2015 and featured on the cover of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2014. Moreover, she was selected for inclusion on Forbes’ inaugural 50 Over 50 list of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators in 2021.

• Olena Shevtsova: Shevtsova is a Ukrainian weaver who has sold handwoven Slavic and Ukrainian patterned belts, sashes and scarves since 2015. A self-established entrepreneur, she leverages the Etsy marketplace to create income and support her family in the Dnipropetrovsk region of southeastern Ukraine. Previously selling her handcrafted goods for her customers’ clothing needs, Shevtsova has now utilized her unique skills to weave camouflage webbing to protect Ukrainian troops since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Equipped with a team of volunteers, she cuts her fabric and hangs the webbing, while others braid the cloth. Although she is currently unable to ship her prior products, many of her international buyers have jumped at the opportunity to purchase digital patterns and gift certificates to express their support and supplement Shevtsova’s income. For her efforts, Shevtsova has been highlighted on MSN, CNN and WION News.

• Ruth Porat: Porat is the chief financial officer of Alphabet Inc., as well as its subsidiary, Google. Serving in her role since 2015, she is credited with advancing Google’s share price through her reorganization of the company and stressing financial discipline. For her achievements in business and financial management, she was ranked 16^th on Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in the World list and seventh on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list, both in 2020. Prior to joining Google, Porat served Morgan Stanley in a myriad of capacities, including as vice-chairperson of investment banking, the global head of the Financial Institutions Group and the co-head of technology investment banking in London. During the financial crisis of 2008, Porat led the Morgan Stanley team in advising the U.S. Department of the Treasury in relation to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She was named the Best Internet CFO by Institutional Investor in 2018.

The full Women in Finance, Business and Technology list is organized alphabetically below, by first name:

• Abigail Johnson
• Aicha Evans
• Alicia Boler Davis
• Alison L. Chung
• Angela Cretu
• Anjali Sud
• Anne Finucane
• Bozoma Saint John
• Carol B. Tomé
• Carole Crist
• Chaitra Vedullapalli
• Edie Fraser
• Elif Bilgi Zapparoli
• Ellen Pao
• Ellen Ochoa
• Eugenia Planas
• Gail Koziara Bourdreaux
• Gail Pankey-Albert
• Gladys West
• Gwynne Shotwell
• Hermina “Nina” Batson
• Ida Liu
• Jane Fraser
• Janelle Jones
• Janet Yellen
• Joanna Stern
• Julie Sweet
• June Jacobs
• Karen S. Lynch
• Katie Bouman
• Kristina Wallender
• Lorraine Twohill
• Luan Cox
• Mary Barra
• Mary Callahan Erdoes
• Olena Shevtsova
• Patricia S. Cowings
• Patricia K. Poppe
• Phebe Novakovic
• Phyllis Newhouse
• Reshma Saujani
• Roberta Williams
• Ruth Porat
• Ruzena Bajcsy
• Safra Catz
• Sara Blakely
• Stephanie Braming
• Susan Wojcicki
• Thasunda Duckett
• Ursula Burns

About Marquis Who’s Who^®

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the first edition of Who’s Who in America^®, Marquis Who’s Who^® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion, and entertainment. Today, Who’s Who in America^® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians, and executive search firms around the world. Marquis^® publications may be visited via the official Marquis Who’s Who^® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.

About the MWW Maker’s Lists

The MWW Maker’s Lists seek to highlight, celebrate and recognize those people whose ideas, philosophies, positions, example or standards, talents, gifts or aptitude, discoveries, innovations or breakthroughs have the ability to influence, affect and transform. The selection committee for the MWW Maker’s Lists is comprised of diverse professionals from a variety of backgrounds in publishing, entertainment, business, journalism, marketing, graphic design, public relations and print media. Committee members conduct extensive independent research and analyses to vet candidates relevant to each Maker’s List theme. A thorough and objective ranking system is utilized and applied by the committee and tabulated by the administrator to confirm, authenticate and finalize each list. The MWW Maker’s List reserves the right to review and rescind nominations at any time.