5 women to know who are making history in 2021
Women's History Month, declared each March by presidential proclamation, began in the late 1980s as an effort to make sure women were not written out of history books.
Four decades later, women are making history now, in every sector, from breaking glass ceilings in business, sports and entertainment, science and more.
Here are five women to know as they make history in front of the world's eyes.
1. Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman said she was "honestly shocked" to be invited to deliver the poem at the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden, but it is Gorman who shocked the nation that day.
Gorman, 22, became the star of the inauguration with her poem, which she finished writing the night of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Gorman, who has said she plans to run for president in 2036, delivered her poem at an historic inauguration that saw Kamala Harris sworn in as the country's first female vice president.
I have never been prouder to see another young woman rise! Brava Brava, @TheAmandaGorman! Maya Angelou is cheering—and so am I. pic.twitter.com/I5HLE0qbPs
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 20, 2021
The Los Angeles native was also the youngest poet ever to read at a presidential inauguration. She went on to perform a poem at Super Bowl LV honoring the front-line workers of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the weeks since the inauguration, Gormand, a Harvard graduate, has gained millions of followers on Instagram and Twitter, signed with IMG Models and watched as her upcoming books soared to the top of Amazon's bestseller lists ahead of their release dates.
2. Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne S. Bass
Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne S. Bass made history in June when she selected as the 19th chief master sergeant of the Air Force, making her the first woman in history to serve as the highest-ranking non-commissioned member of a U.S. military service.
"I’m honored and humbled to be selected as the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, and follow in the footsteps of some of the best leaders our Air Force has ever known," Bass, who entered the Air Force in 1993, said in a statement. "The history of the moment isn’t lost on me; I’m just ready to get after it. And I’m extremely grateful for and proud of my family and friends who helped me along the way."
Women represent around 16% of enlisted forces and 19% of the officer corps in the U.S. Military, according to data analyzed by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank. Women have only been able to serve in combat roles in the military for the past five years.
Two other women also recently joined Bass near the top of the military ranks.
Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson and Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost were promoted this month to head four-star combatant commands. The two women joined Biden, Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a White House event marking International Women's Day on March 8.
"We need little girls and boys, both, who have grown up dreaming of serving for their country to know this is what generals in the United States Armed Forces look like," Biden said.
3. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett
Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D., is an expert on the front lines of the global race for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and someone who will go down in history as one of the key players in developing the science that could end the pandemic.
Corbett is part of a team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that worked with Moderna, the pharmaceutical company that developed one of the two mRNA vaccines that has shown to be more than 90% effective.
Moderna's vaccine received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December.
Corbett first made headlines on March 3 as part of a team of scientists who spoke with President Donald Trump at the NIH. At the time, the global impact of the COVID-19 crisis had yet to be felt in America.
Corbett told ABC News in December that her participation during that event with the president marked an important step forward for young scientists and people of color.
"I felt like it was necessary to be seen and to not be a hidden figure so to speak," Corbett said. "I felt that it was important to do that because the level of visibility that it would have to younger scientists and also to people of color who have often worked behind the scenes and essentially [who have] done the dirty work for these large efforts toward a vaccine."
"This person who looks like you has been working on this for several years and I also wanted it to be visible because I wanted people to understand that I stood by the work that I'd done for so long as well," she added.
4. Women in the NFL, MLB
In the National Football League (NFL), it is women who are making history both on and off the field.
At the Super Bowl in January, NFL referee Sarah Thomas made history as the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl.
With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in that game, Bucs' assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust and assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar made history as the first women to be on the coaching staff of a winning Super Bowl team.
The Buccaneers also have several women in leadership positions, including the team's co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz, who led the Bucs to become the first NFL team to establish a scholarship program benefiting female high school football players.
Just before the Super Bowl, in January, Washington Football Team assistant running backs coach Jennifer King became the first Black woman to coach full time in the league.
In March, Maia Chaka made history when she was named an NFL referee. Chaka will be the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game when she takes the field in the 2021 season.
"I am honored to be selected as an NFL official," she said in a statement. "But this moment is bigger than a personal accomplishment. It is an accomplishment for all women, my community, and my culture."
In Major League Baseball (MLB), Kim Ng is making history as the first female and first Asian American general manager in MLB history.
Ng, general manager of the Miami Marlins, has a 30-year career in baseball and said she interviewed "numerous times" for the Marlins position before receiving the job offer.
"It's about hard work and perseverance and still remaining confident in yourself," Ng told "GMA" in November. "One of the biggest things [is] that you can't just quit on yourself."
5. Whitney Wolfe Herd
In February, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire and the youngest female CEO to take a company public in the United States, and she did it all with her young son by her side.
Wolfe Herd, 31, very noticeably held her 1-year-old son, Bobby Lee "Bo" Herd II, on her hip when she pressed the button to take the company she founded public on Nasdaq.
Bumble shared a photo of the moment on Instagram alongside the caption, "This is what leadership looks like."
Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 after an acrimonious split from Tinder, a dating app she also co-founded.
Alongside a female-driven management team, Wolfe Herd has focused the Austin-based company on a female empowerment message since its inception. The dating app stands out for letting women "make the first move," one of the company's slogans.
"This is only possible thanks to the more than 1.7 billion first moves made by brave women on our app — and the pioneering women who paved the way for us in the business world," Wolfe Herd wrote on Twitter about her company going public. "Thank you."
