Rachel Levine became the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history when she was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health in March 2021.

Alice Wong is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community that fosters and amplifies disability media and culture.

A dedicated public health advocate, Antonia Novello made history as the first female and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General in 1990.

The founder of the Mississippi Health Project and the Southeast Neighborhood House, Dr. Dorothy Ferebee provided healthcare to the most vulnerable members of the African American community.

As the first African American woman to receive a Medical Degree (MD) in the United States, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler challenged the prejudice that prevented African Americans and women from pursuing medical careers.

June Almeida serves as a role model for determination and innovation. As the person to identify the first human coronavirus, scientists, and people all over the world, are indebted to her work.

Karikó’s research and perseverance proved that mRNA vaccines were possible and paved the way for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to end the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the “Guardian of the Glades,” led the charge to protect the Everglades and reveal their rich natural heritage to the rest of the world.

In a 1912 New York Times article, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was regarded as “the symbol of the new era, when all women will be free and unhampered.”

Known as the “census taker of the sky,” Annie Jump Cannon was a brilliant astronomer that revolutionized the way scientists classify stars.

Astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space.

Mary Edwards Walker is the only US woman to receive the Presidential Medal of Honor.

Nurse Florence Nightingale is best known for making hospitals a cleaner and safer place to be.

Aileen Cole Stewart became one of the first African American women to serve in the Army Nursing Corps.

Canadian Charlotte Monture moved to the US for nursing training and served in the US Army during World War I.