Aung San Suu Kyi (72) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, and author who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar. Her dreams almost came true in 1990 when she won the national election, but due to the government’s unwillingness to hand over power and corrupt legal system, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for over two decades. During the two decades under house arrest, she did everything in her power to influence her country. Once she was finally released in 2010, Suu Kyi continued to fight for democracy. In 2012, the National League for Democracy, the advocate’s party, won 43 seats in the national by-elections. She is still working hard to fight for wellness of Myanmar.

“My attitude is, do as much as I can while I’m free. And if I’m arrested, I’ll still do as much as I can.” – Aung San Suu Kyi

The former tennis player, Billie Jean King (74), is known for not only being one of America’s best female tennis players in history, but also pushing for equal prize money for women as an openly gay athlete. King first became a top-ranked tennis player by 1967 but her fame skyrocketed in 1973 during the Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs, the men’s champion for tennis. Although Riggs was flaunting victory before the match even began, King handily beat Riggs in straight sets before approximately 90 million viewers. In total, King won 39 Grand Slam titles throughout her career. As a celebrity athlete, King advocated for equal payouts among genders and her voice greatly affected the public. Her work paid off in 1973 when U.S. Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money to both genders.

“Reputation is what others think about you. What’s far more important is character, because that is what you think about yourself.” – Billie Jean King

Carmen Dell’Orefice’s (86) career started when she was on the cover of Vogue in 1946 at the age of 15. She is one of the youngest Vogue cover models and it led to far more opportunities to be featured in Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair at the age of 16. Dell’Orefice was also a muse of the world-famous painter, Salvador Dali. His painting of a topless woman, inspired by the young model, is now owned by Queen Elizabeth of England. Dell’Orefice retired from modeling in 1958 but came back to the business 20 year later, landing assignments with Rolex and ChoCheng. As of 2012, she is the oldest working model and has proven, very well, that age is never a factor that decides what you are capable of.

 “Today, I am in a territory that business considers unmarketable; age and white hair. Slowly, however, I started t own that territory little by little because I stood up for age.” – Carmen Dell’Orefice

Queen Elizabeth II (91) made history back in 2015 as the longest-reigning monarch in English history. Besides from longevity, she has accomplished a lot over the 65 years. The Queen worked and still works tirelessly as the head of state of United Kingdom; she has giver her assent to more than 2500 acts of Parliament, conferred over 400000 honors, presided over 610 investitures, and is a patron of over 600 charities and organizations. In her ruling Queen Elizabeth has embodied the 20th century history but also has adapted the culture of 21st century, such as technology. Even with the duties that follow the realm, Queen Elizabeth and the royal family has never forgotten their obligations. And these efforts, I believe, is what kept the monarchy in England alive and prosperous while many other monarchies have fallen during the time. Queen Elizabeth is the beacon of female empowerment for women across the world and has given us faith that a woman can rule as well as any man.

“I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.” – Queen Elizabeth II

As time progresses, more and more women are going into the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field. Frances Allen (85), however, was a bit early to the race. Allen started as a high school math teacher but decided to take a teaching job for IBM to pay off her student debt. There, she was able to work with coding data as a computer scientist. She is most known for her work in the field of optimizing compilers, which make programs run more efficiently. Allen also worked on building one of the first supercomputers, which the National Security Agency (NSA) used for code-breaking. Allen became the first woman to be named an BM Fellow, the most prestigious achievement at the company in 1989 and the first woman to win the A.M Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science. She sees determination as a key to her success and has shown us that perseverance can lead to greater accomplishments.

“For me, being honest to myself has always been important… I’ve always tried to do what I felt what the right thing or the best thing. That sounds a little Pollyanna-ish, but I think I became an IBM Fellow because I didn’t always follow and didn’t always do what I was told.” – Frances Allen

She's known to many as America's Grandma, Betty White (96). This saucy woman holds the incredible accomplishment of having the longest television career of any female entertainer. She is regarded by many as a pioneer of television for woman, having been among the first to have a career both on and off camera. Betty White is recognized as the first woman to produce a sitcom, Life With Elizabeth. This accomplishment resulted in her receiving the honorary title Mayor of Hollywood in 1955. In her 75 year entertainment career she has received 8 Emmy awards, 3 American Comedy Awards, 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Grammy. Beyond that she is an avid animal rights activist and has supported many advocate groups such as the Morris Animal Foundation, the African Wildlife Foundation, and the American Humane Association.

“Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go though life without leaving any footprints.” — Betty White

If you told me yesterday that a 4 feet 6 inches tall grandmother from New York City broke a sprinting record at the age of 95, I wouldn’t have believed you. Ida Keeling (102) suffered from the loss of her husband and of her two sons in drug related murdered, just two years apart. To get through the time of darkness, Keeling’s daughter proposed to do something physical to relieve the stress and depression. Keeling started running at the age of 67 and now, around 40 years later, she holds Master records in 60 meter and 100 meter distances for women I the 95-99 and 100+ age groups. In February of 2018, the track athlete published Can’t Nothing Bring Me Down: Chasing Myself in the Race Against Time, a memoir that tells her story. Keeling has proven to the world that age is nothing but a number.

“Get up and do things, even if you don’t feel like it. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing this, that or the other. Do the thing that you don’t like to do first, and get rid of it.” – Ida Keeling

Jane Goodall (83), a British primatologist and ethologist, had the passion to learn about wild animals in exotic environments ever since she was a young lady in the 1960s. With her efforts and passion about animals in Africa, she went to Tanzania where she studied chimpanzees and their behavior. She made startling discoveries about their emotions, their ways of communicating and of making tools that proved that chimpanzees are more like humans than other creatures. In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supported her research from Tanzania. Since then, she has shifted her focus from chimpanzees to concern with animal-human conservation and is on road around 300 days a year to work to help animals’ voices be heard.

“Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.” – Jane Goodall

As the first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor (87) is an inspiration for women across the world. O’Connor was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and was confirmed by the Senate unanimously, 99-0. She is famous for upholding states’ rights and was often a swing vote, such as the case in Bush v. Gore, where her vote made George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States. O’Connor is most known for standing her ground in the Roe v. Wade repeal, when her party, the Republican party, called to reverse the decision on abortion rights. She provided the vote needed to uphold the court’s earlier decision. Although she retired from court in 2006, O’Connor is still respected for focusing on the law, not the voice of politicians, and voting for what she believed best fit the intentions of the U.S. Constitution.

 “I’ve always said that at the end of the day, on a legal issue, I think a wise old woman and a wise old man are going to reach the same conclusion.” – Sandra Day O’Connor

Valentina Tereshkova (81), a former Russian cosmonaut, was the first woman to go to space. When she was 18, Tereshkova began working at a textile company where we made her first parachute. Her enthusiasm for skydiving was brought to the Soviet space program’s attention as they were preparing to send a woman to space. As a task that was only been successful a handful amount of times, going to space was not an easy task. But as an accomplished parachutist, Tereshkova was well equipped to do so.  1963, Tereshkova, then 26, successfully traveled to space and orbited the earth 48 times and logged more hours in space than any American astronaut did at the time. She is still the only woman ever to go solo on a space mission. When she came back, Tereshkova was chosen for several political positions until the collapse of the Soviet Union. She is still considered a hero and her mark in the Russian space history will always be significant.

“They forbade me from flying, despite all my protests and arguments. After being once in space, I was desperately keen to go back there.” – Valentina Tereshkova