Member Achievements

IWF MEMBERS CHANGING THE WORLD

In 2024 IWF is celebrating 50 years of IWF women changing the world. Since our founding in 1974, our members have been leading change across every sector and profession, inspiring the next generation, and transforming the world.

Below we have highlighted a few of the international women trailblazers we are proud to call our IWF Sisters.

Irene Charnley's entrepreneurial leadership transformed the communications landscape in Africa and the Middle East. Irene, a member of IWF South Africa, turned the MTN Group into one of the region’s most pre-eminent telecoms operators, connecting people and countries across borders, cultures, languages, and sectors. MTN is currently among the largest mobile network operators in the world, providing service to more than 290 million customers.

Hear Irene speak at the 2021 Women in Technology Awards: Irene Charnley, President of International Women's Forum South Africa (IWFSA), speaking at WIT 2021 (youtube.com)

Cari Dominguez, the mother of the 1991 US Glass Ceiling Commission, which helped identify and address the invisible workplace barriers affecting the advancement of women. Her work spurred the creation of the IWF Leadership Fellows Program, now in its 30^th year. 

Cari, a member of IWF DC, is currently the Chair of the Center for Inclusive Governance at the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Learn more about Cari’s leadership here: https://hispanicexecutive.com/cari-dominguez/

Carole Feuerman is one of the world’s most acclaimed sculptors, known for her use of hyperrealism. Carole’s stunning works bring art to life, and life to art as she molds raw materials into startingly realistic sculptures. 

Learn more about Carole’s work and listen to her talk about art, creativity, and the craft of sculpting on her podcast: https://carolefeuerman.info/podcast/

Carole is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York.

Grace Fu, Singapore's Minister for Sustainability & the Environment, who is working to engage governments, the private sector, and individuals to create a roadmap for environmental sustainability for the future.

Hear Grace discuss the challenges of climate change and possible solutions at last year's Sustainable Business Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiM5ua0kM6Y

Alexia Barrier, IWF France, who goes to the ends of the earth—literally—to help protect our planet. Alexia, a sailor since the age of 3, sailed around the world in the 2021 Vendee Globe, finishing in 111 days. As the founder of 4myplanet, Alexia uses her maritime skills for good, equipping her boat with tools to collect data, often in very remote places.

Hear Alexia on our IWF podcast sharing what it’s like to be alone at sea for months, and how each of us can help protect our oceans: https://iwforum.org/2021/08/1656/

Dr. Jamile Camacho of IWF Chile, a Professor of Surgery and Breast Pathology at Clínica Alemana in Santiago, Chile. Her groundbreaking work has closed the gap in healthcare access focused on the intersectionality of gender and age.

Listen to Dr. Camacho on Women, Aging and Healthcare Inequities panel from our 2022 Cornerstone Conference in Santiago: Women, Aging, And Inequities In Health CareTown Hall (youtube.com)

Elisabeth Steiner, IWF Austria, who has been a champion for justice her entire career. A former judge at the European Court of Human Rights at The Hague, Elisabeth has represented the voiceless, including more than 80,000 former slave and forced laborers from the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia; forced laborers during World War II; and Holocaust victims from various countries.

Learn more about Elisabeth here: https://www.lansky.at/en/team/elisabeth-steiner/

Jill Tarter, a highly acclaimed astronomer, and the co-founder of the SETI Institute in California. Jill, a member of IWF Northern California, has spent her career focused on extraterrestrial life, peering through telescopes to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.

From my perspective, we live on a fragile island of life, in a universe of possibilities, Jill said in a 2009 TED Talk. She pays her knowledge forward by teaching future citizens and scientists about space exploration, and was the inspiration for the main character in the 1997 movie Contact.

Listen to Jill's TED Talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_tarter_join_the_seti_search