Ask the average person who is the world’s most powerful woman, and they will pause, scratch their head, and struggle to produce a name.  Media giants like Forbes Magazine along with blog and Internet sites have attempted to produce lists that have included top businesswomen, Fortune 500 CEOs, government officials, elected officials and media personalities. 

ElectWomen Magazine recently surveyed its readers to determine who is the world’s most powerful woman.  56% of EW readers, generally women interested or involved in politics, rated Hillary Clinton as the world’s most powerful woman.  As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is the top-ranking female in the United States Government and is in a position to influence foreign affairs and world policy.

Media icon, Oprah, came in a distant second with 19% of the votes and First Lady Michelle Obama came in third with 10%.  Others receiving more than one vote were Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Germany’s Chancellor and Head of State, Angela Merkel. 

Below is a brief profile on all of the women that were listed on the ElectWomen poll during the month of March.  Although not a scientific poll, it is clear that Hillary Clinton, despite her loss in the U.S. presidential primary election, is viewed as the most powerful woman in the world.

1)     Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State, U.S.) – On January 21, 2009, Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as the 67th Secretary of State of the United States. Secretary Clinton joined the State Department after nearly four decades in public service as an advocate, attorney, First Lady, and Senator.

Just over two months into her new role Secretary Clinton has already travelled to Asia, Egypt, Israel, the Palestenian Territories, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Mexico, The Hague and Europe tackling tough issues such as turmoil in the financial markets, humanitarian issues, security and climate change.

In 2008 she ran a historic campaign to be the first female president of the United States.  In 2000 she made history by becoming the first First Lady to be elected to the United States Senate, and the first woman elected statewide in New York <State.gov>.

2)    Oprah Winfrey (Chairman, Harpo, U.S.) – She currently hosts the No. 1 talk show in the United States with an average of 48 million viewers a week and has her own channel on XM Satellite Radio.  Later this year, Oprah is planning to launch the Oprah Winfrey Network with Discovery Communications <Forbes.com>.

 

3)    Michelle Obama (First Lady, U.S.) – When her husband was sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2009 Michelle Obama became the first African-American First Lady.  Michelle grew up on the South Side of Chicago.  She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and in 1988 received a law degree from Harvard Law School.  After graduation she joined the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin.  After a few years with Sidley & Austin she went on to serve as the assistant commissioner of planning and development in Chicago’s city hall before becoming founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that seeks to prepare youth for public service.  In 1996 she went on to become associate dean of student services at the University of Chicago.  In her new role as First Lady, Michelle will focus on issues such as supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, and encouraging national service <Whitehouse.gov>.

4)    Nancy Pelosi (Speaker, House of Representatives, U.S.) – In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman ever to serve as Speaker of the House.  Then on January 6, 2009 Pelosi was sworn into this position for the second time.  As Speaker of the House, Pelosi is third in line to assume the office of President <Http://speaker.house.gov>.

 

5)     Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany) – On November 22, 2005 Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.  She is credited with implementing reforms that are helping Germany’s economy rebound.  In 2007 Merkel was President of the European Council and chair of the G8.  This was only the second time in history a woman has served as chair of the G8; the first was Margaret Thatcher.  Forbes Magazine currently ranks her as the most powerful woman in the world.

6)    Indra K. Nooyi (Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo., U.S.) – As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo., Indra Nooyi leads one of the world’s largest convenient food and beverage companies.  She is the company’s fifth CEO in its’ history and is the first woman to hold the post.  PepsiCo’s products are sold in nearly 200 countries and in 2008 the company had annual revenues of more than $43 billion <Pepsico.com>.

 

7)    Christiane Amanpour  (Chief international correspondent, CNN, U.S.) – In her 18 years as an international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour has obtained exclusive interviews with world leaders from the Middle East to Europe to Africa and more including; Iranian Presidents Mohammed Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as well as the presidents of Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria, among others.  Since 1990 she has reported on every major crisis around the world in hotspots such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans and the United States during Hurrican Katrina.  She has won nine News and Documentary Emmy’s as well as numerous other prestigous awards for her work <CNN.com>.

8.)  Lisa Caputo (Executive Vice President, Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Citigroup Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Women & Co., Citigroup) – As Citi’s Executive Vice President, Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs Lisa is responsible for managing the marketing, corporate communications, and community relations strategy for one of the world’s largest banks.  In addition, Caputo is responsible for overseeing the marketing, advertising, branding, consumer insights, media, sponsorships, external and internal communications, media relations, issues management, executive communications, and community relations operations at Citi.  Lisa is also Chairman and CEO of Women & Co., a membership program she began when she first started at Citi.  Women & Co. provides solutions that address the unique financial needs of women and accounts for over $30 billion in assets under management at Citi <Citigroup.com>.

9)    Sheila Bair (Chariman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., U.S.) – On June 26, 2006 Bair was sworn in as the 19^th Chairman of the Federal Deposity Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  Her appointment is for a five year term, but she will serve as a member of the FDIC Board of Directors through July 2013.  As head of the FDIC Bair currently has the challenge of reassuring the American public that the country’s financial institutions are sound, despite the current economic crisis <FDIC.gov>.

10)  Anne Mulcahy  (Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corp., U.S.) – On August 1, 2001 Anne Mulcahy was named CEO of Xerox and five months later on January 1, 2002 she was named chairman.  Anne started her career with Xerox in 1976 as a field sales representative.  Overtime she increasingly assumed responsibility for sales and senior management positions. She became chief staff officer in 1997 and corporate senior vice president in 1998. Prior to that, she served as vice president and staff officer for Customer Operations, covering South America and Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa <Xerox.com>.

11) Sarah Palin (Governor of Alaska, U.S.) – When Sarah Palin took office on December 4, 2006 she made history by becoming Alaska’s first female governor as well as its’ youngest.  Governor Palin also made history during the 2008 presidential campaign by being the first Alaskan and the first woman nomimated by the Republican Party for vice president.  As governor, her top priorities have been resource development, education, workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.  Under her leadership, Alaska has invested over $5 billion in state savings, increased education funding, and implemented a program for seniors that provides support for low-income older Alaskans <http://gov.state.ak.us>.

12) Queen Elizabeth (Queen, U.K.) – At age 82 Queen Elizabeth does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.  Throughout her 56-year reign over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland she has counseled a dozen prime ministers and seen vast changes including the dissolution of the British Empire into the modern Commonwealth of Nations <Forbes.com>.

 

13) Meg Whitman (Former Chief Executive, eBay) – After guiding eBay through the internet boom and subsequent bust Whitman recently announced plans to run for governor of California.  Whitman has never run for public office, but believes Californians will view her corporate background as what the state needs in order to recover from its current fiscal disaster.  Despite the current economic crisis Whitman’s personal holdings are valued at over $1 billion; making her one of the richest people in the world <Forbes.com>.

14) Arianna Huffington (co-founder and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post) – At a party in 2004 Arianna Huffington and former AOL executive Kenneth Lerer decided there needed to be a counterpoint to Matt Drudge’s right-leaning website, from this the idea for The Huffington Post was born.  Later Jonah Peretti joined them and in 2005 they launched the Huffingtonpost.com.  In February 2009, the site became the 15^th most popular news site just ahead of the BBC’s and just below the Washington Post’s.  According to Nielsen it garnered more than 8.9 million unique users that month.  Go to the site on any given day and you will find content from the Associated Press, contributions from unpaid writers, stories from other news outlets, and entries from the site’s handful of writers.  While some have bashed the format of The Huffington Post site others believe this model may change the news business, either way the success of her site has made Arianna Huffington a media mogul <Time.com>.

15) Ursula Burns (President Xerox, U.S.) – Burns began her career at Xerox in 1980 when she joined the company as a mechanical engineering summer intern.  After holding several positions in engineering she became the executive assistant to then chairman and chief executive officer Paul A. Allaire in 1991. From 1992 to 2000 she led several business teams and in 2000 she was named senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services.  Two years later she took on the role of President, Business Group Operations.  Then in 2007 she was named President of Xerox and elected to the Board of Directors.  Today she is responsible for the company’s global research, development, engineering, marketing, and manufacturing of Xerox technology, supplies, and related services.  In addition she oversees the corporation’s Global Accounts, Information Management, Corporation Strategy, Human Resources and Ethics, and Marketing Operations <Xerox.com>.

16) Katie Couric (Anchor and managing editor, CBS Evening News, CBS News, U.S.) – In 2006 Katie Couric made history when she became the country’s first female network evening-news anchor.  She has had a long career in the news business including 15 years when she co-anchored the Today show.  Couric is also well known for her work in raising awareness on the fight against colon cancer <Forbes.com>.

 

17) Martha Stewart (Entrepreneur, television host, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) –  Martha Stewart developed a passion for cooking, gardening, and homekeeping at a very young age.  Out of this passion and Martha’s creative vision came the blueprint for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.  Under her leadership, the company has produced an impressive portfiolio that includes award winning magazines Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings, Emmy Award-winning, nationally syndicated television series “The Martha Stewart Show”, Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius XM, several best-selling books, and multiple product lines for the home that can be found in stores like Macy’s and K-Mart <MarthaStewart.com>.

18) Lt. General Ann Dunwoody (U.S. Army Materiel Command Commanding General) – On November 14, 2008 Dunwoody became the first woman in U.S. military history to reach the status of four-star general.  She has had a distinguished military career spanning more than 30 years.  From September 1990 to March 1991 she deployed with the 82^nd as the Division Parachute Officer for Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  In 2001, as the 1^st COSCOM Commander she deployed the Log Task Force in support of OEF1 and stood up the Joint Logistics Command in Uzbekistan in support of CJTF-180. As Commander of Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), she supported the largest redeployment of U.S. forces since WWII.  In her current role as U.S. Army Materiel Command Commanding General she is responsible for one of the Army’s largest command’s, with more than 61,000 employees in 149 locations worldwide <Army.mil>.

Sources for this article include:  Forbes.com, CNN.com, State.gov, Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com, Speaker.house.gov,Pepsico.com, Citigroup.com, FDIC.gov, gov.state.ak.us, Xerox.com, MarthaStewart.com, Army.mil, and Time.com.