Women who changed the world in 2021
2021 was a turbulent year for much of the world’s population, but among the chaos, there were some women who stood out and made a difference. Whether they are an older female model or a politician, they used their platforms to enact positive change.
These women were able to change the world with their actions, and their impact on others helped change and improve the world in the last year. Here are a few women that changed the world in 2021.
Sofia Vergara
Sofia Vergara is best known for her role on the hit television show Modern Family, but she is more than an actress and older female model. In 2021, Sofia partnered with Kiva, an organization designed to help provide loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With Kiva, you’re able to invest in small businesses, and in turn, you get your loan repaid once that investment pays off. Considering the fact that even today the gender wage gap is up to 23%, meaning women make an average of 77% of what men make, being able to directly support small, women-owned businesses is a great way to help change the world like Sofia.
Stacey Abrams
Stacey Abrams is a politician that has spent her political career dedicated to making sure that everyone is given a fair chance to vote. Her activism for voting rights prior to the 2020 election allowed her to personally register thousands of voters who showed up to the polls for the first time in their lives in 2020. Late in 2021, Abrams announced she’ll once again be running to become the governor of Georgia. As she continued to work throughout 2021 to fight voter suppression and get more people to the polls to use their constitutional right to vote, she continued making waves and changing the world.
Halima Aden
Halima made waves in 2016 as the first hijabi woman to wear a hijab and burkini in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. From there, she became the first hijabi woman to be signed to a major modeling contract and to walk on many runways around the world. In 2020, she announced she would no longer be doing runway modeling as she was often forced to compromise her religious beliefs, and she was shown widespread support from major names such as Rihanna and the Hadid sisters. In 2021, she was named one of BBC’s 100 women for her work breaking through barriers for hijabi women.
Though 2021 was a difficult year, these women were able to make positive changes for the world around them. Whether they were making a difference in the world of modeling, using their political power to help others, or using their status as a famous older female model to bring light to important issues, they were able to leave the world better off by the end of the year.