7 Powerful
Women 2014

Mirjam Stoffels

We all love our little [or longer] lists. We have a ‘to-do’-list, a shopping list, a list with our contacts… to name just a few. Not only do we love them, American business magazine Forbes loves them too. They publish lists such as ‘Forbes’ 400 richest Americans’, ‘The World’s Billionaires’, ‘The Worlds Most Powerful People’ and ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’.

Since the beginning of 2013, at the start of seven2success.com I give you the most powerful women of the year and slowly but surely this is turning into a tradition. So here they are: The top seven of most powerful women of 2014!

A short recap: Angela Merkel [Chancellor of Germany] leads the list for the 8th time. Janet Yellen, the new Federal Reserve chair and first woman to hold the position, makes a strong first showing at #2. Also a newcomer in the top 7 is General Motor’s new CEO Mary Barra at #7. We no longer see Michelle Obama [First Lady] and Sheryl Sandberg [COO Facebook] in the top 7. Melinda Gates [philanthropist], Dilma Rousseff [President of Brasil], Christine Lagarde [Managing Director, International Monetary Fund] and Hillary Clinton [former US Secretary of State] are still going strong, though.

 
 
#1
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel, born Angela Dorothea Kasner [July 17, 1954]. Since november 22, 2005 the Chancellor of Germany and party leader of the Christian Democratic Union [CDU]. Angela Merkel is the first female Chancellor of Germany. She has been described as ‘the de facto leader of the European Union’ and was also ranked as the world’s second most powerful person by the Forbes magazine, the highest ranking ever achieved by a woman.
 
 
 

 
 
#2
Janet Yellen
Janet Louise Yellen [born August 13, 1946] is an American economist. She is the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, previously serving as Vice Chair from 2010 to 2014. On January 6, 2014, the United States Senate confirmed Yellen’s nomination to be Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Yellen was sworn in on February 3, 2014, making her the first woman to hold the position.
 
 
 
 

 
 
#3
Melinda Gates
Melinda French Gates, born Melinda Ann French [August 15, 1964] is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of Bill Gates. She is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a former unit manager for several Microsoft products such as Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
#4
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff [December 14, 1947] is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff to the President of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With Carlos Araújo, her partner for 30 years, she helped found the Democratic Labour Party [PDT]. After an internal dispute in the Dutra cabinet, she left PDT and joined the Workers’ Party [PT].

 
 
 

 
 
#5
Christine Lagarde
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde [January 1st, 1956] is a French lawyer and ‘Union for a Popular Movement’-politician who has been the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund [IMF] since July 5, 2011. Previously, she held various ministerial posts in the French government: she was Minister of Economic Affairs, Finance and Employment and before that Minister of Agriculture and Fishing and Minister of Trade in the government of Dominique de Villepin. Lagarde was the first woman to become finance minister of a G8 economy, and is the first woman to head the IMF.

 

 
 
#6
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton [October 26, 1947] is a former United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady of the United States. From 2009 – 2013 she was the 67th United States Secretary of State. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. In the 2008 election, Hillary Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. She is the first former First Lady who was Senator and a minister in a U.S. government.

 

 
 
#7
Mary Barra
Mary Teresa Barra [born December 24, 1961] is the Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. She holds that position since January 15, 2014, and she is the first female CEO of a major global automaker. On December 10, 2013, GM named her to succeed Dan Akerson as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, Barra served as the Executive Vice President of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain at General Motors. In April 2014, Barra was featured on the cover of Time’s ’100 Most Influential People in the World.’

 
 

 
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On the Forbes list or not, we all know powerful women. The role models in our life.
Who is your great example, your role model?
Share with us in the comment box below!!

Mirjam Stoffels

Founder of seven2success, author of ‘Daily Little Secrets to Success’ and guest blogger at Project Eve and 365 dagen succesvol. In my mission to make seven2success the biggest platform of knowledge and inspiration for women, I want to inspire you with our content! Check us out on Facebook and Twitter! I’d love to connect!  And do you want to inspire other women? Write for us!

 
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