Women We Admire is pleased to announce the Top 100 Women CEOs of 2021. This year’s awardees represent an elite group of leaders, who have used their insight into market trends, deep knowledge of customers, and ability to develop innovative products and services to drive business across a range of industries. In addition to leading some of the biggest organizations in their respective fields, these women have also played significant roles in their companies’ transformations. From Jane Fraser, who just this year became the first female CEO of financial services giant Citigroup; to Susan Wojcicki, who strategically led Google to acquire YouTube in 2006 and went on to lead the platform through its meteoric growth; and to Mary Barra, who has ushered General Motors into driverless and electric-powered vehicle technology, these awardees have broken down countless barriers to confidently lead their companies to success.
Amid their own professional achievements, they have also served as fierce advocates for women in business, serving as part of organizations and initiatives that are working diligently to open doors for women and other minorities to achieve in their fields. Coming from varied professional backgrounds, they have worked to produce workplaces that are as diverse as they are productive, working tirelessly to ensure that their employees, their companies, and their products are of the highest caliber. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of the Top 100 Women CEOs of 2021.
1. Jane Fraser
Company: Citigroup
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
Jane Fraser is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup. She was previously head of Global Consumer Banking and president of Citigroup Latin America, as well as CEO of Citi’s Global Private Bank and CitiMortgage. She is a board member of the Touch Foundation in New York, which runs a medical college and hospital, and works to improve the healthcare system in Tanzania, Africa. Fraser received her Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and her Master of Arts degree in economics from Cambridge University.
2. Safra Catz
Company: Oracle
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Safra Catz is Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corporation and a member of the company’s board of directors. Before being named CEO, she served as Oracle’s president, chief financial officer, executive vice president, and senior vice president. She has served on the board of directors for HSBC Holdings, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, since 2008. Catz received her undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
3. Carol Tomé
Company: UPS
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Carol Tomé is the Chief Executive Officer of United Parcel Service (UPS), a multinational package delivery and supply chain management company. She also sits on the UPS board of directors. Tomé worked at Home Depot from 1995 to 2019, serving as vice president and treasurer, and later as executive vice president and chief financial officer. In her earlier roles, she worked as a commercial lender at United Bank of Denver, was director of banking at Johns-Manville Corp, and was vice president and treasurer of Riverwood International Corp of Atlanta. Tomé received her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Denver and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wyoming.
5. Susan Wojcicki
Company: YouTube
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Susan Wojcicki is the Chief Executive Officer of YouTube. Previously, she was the senior vice president of advertising and commerce at Google. Her career at Google began in 1999 as the company’s first marketing manager. She oversaw the design, innovation, and engineering of Google’s advertising, commerce, and measurement platform products, including AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, Offers, and Google Analytics. She also led the initial development of several key successful consumer products including Google Images and Google Books. She received her Master of Science degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
7. Sonia Syngal
Company: The Gap, Inc.
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
Sonia Syngal is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Gap, Inc. She joined Gap, Inc. in 2004, later becoming president of Old Navy, one of Gap’s brands. She led Old Navy from $7 billion to $8 billion in sales in just three years, expanding its North American presence to more than 1,200 stores, scaling its e-commerce site to the fourth-largest apparel site in the U.S. and building competitive omni-channel capabilities. Prior to joining Gap, Inc., Syngal had a successful career in Fortune 500 product companies such as Sun Microsystems and Ford Motor Co. She is on the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Club of America. Syngal received her Master of Science degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University and her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University.
12. Phebe Novakovic
Company: General Dynamics
Title: Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer
Phebe Novakovic is the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of General Dynamics, a major aerospace and defense corporation. She is one of the only female executives in the military-industrial space. Novakovic is a former operative of the Central Intelligence Agency and has experience at the Defense Department. In 2018, Forbes named her the world’s 25th most powerful woman in business. Novakovic received her Bachelor of Arts degree in government and German from Smith College and her Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
13. Laura Alber
Company: Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Title: President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director
Laura Alber is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the premier specialty retailer of high-quality products for the home. The family of brands includes Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, and Mark and Graham. Alber joined WSI in 1995 as a senior buyer at Pottery Barn, eventually becoming Pottery Barn’s president in 2002, during which time she created and launched Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen. She became president of WSI in 2006 and has served as CEO since 2010. Alber currently serves on the board of directors for Fitbit and the board of overseers for the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences. Alber received her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
View the complete list of awardees.
15. Michele Buck
Company: The Hershey Company
Title: Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Michele Buck is Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Hershey Company, a food manufacturing company best known for its eponymous chocolate bars. She had previous roles at Kraft/Nabisco and the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo, with a successful track record of building brands, developing high-performing teams, and creating sustainable businesses. She sits on the board of directors at New York Life, a Fortune 100 Company. Buck received her Master of Business Administration degree in marketing from the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.
18. Lily Sarafan
Company: Home Care Assistance
Title: Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
Lily Sarafan is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Home Care Assistance (HCA), consistently recognized as a best-in-class healthcare company. Sarafan has been a featured expert on digital health and the future of aging at the White House and at global conferences. She is a board member, investor, and advisor for innovative companies and serves on the Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Freeman Spogli Institute Council, the Stanford Undergraduate Education Cabinet, and the Berkeley-Haas Center for Innovation Economies, where she is board chair. Sarafan received her Master of Science degree in management science and engineering from Stanford University.
19. Lori Ryerkerk
Company: Celanese
Title: Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Lori Ryerkerk is the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 global chemical and specialty materials company based in Dallas, Texas. Celanese is a leader in the development and production of materials used in most major industrial and consumer applications. Ryerkerk was named as CEO, as well as a member of the board of directors, in 2019 and was appointed Chairman in 2020. Prior to joining Celanese, she was executive vice president of Global Manufacturing at Shell Downstream, Inc. Ryerkerk received her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University.
23. Adi Tatarko
Company: Houzz
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Adi Tatarko is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design. Founded in 2009, Houzz is the leading place for homeowners and professional contractors to connect and share photos, advice, and recommendations. It is currently one of the United States’ highest-valued businesses run by a female founder. Tatarko was named one of Forbes’ Top Self-Made Women in 2020 and received the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Great Immigrants award in 2019. Tatarko earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
26. Ho Ching
Company: Temasek Holdings
Title: Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
Ho Ching is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings and was named the 30th most powerful woman in the world in 2020 by Forbes. Temasek is a major Singaporean sovereign wealth fund owned by the Government of Singapore; it was one of the main investors in a $14 billion dollar fundraising round by Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba. Ho opened international offices in San Francisco in 2018 and poured over a quarter of Temasek’s money into sectors like life sciences, tech, and agribusiness. An engineer by training, she was the president and CEO of Singapore Technologies Group prior to joining Temasek. She received a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in electrical engineering from the National University of Singapore.
27. Whitney Wolfe Herd
Company: Bumble
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Whitney Wolfe Herd is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bumble, the company behind the dating and social networking apps Badoo, Bumble, and Bumble BFF. Bumble was the first dating app where the woman controls the interaction by indicating interest; Bumble BFF operates under a similar concept as a networking app to find friends. Wolfe Herd has been praised for her work, including landing a spot on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list and Forbes’ prestigious 30 Under 30 list. Her previous work includes co-founding the dating app Tinder. Wolfe Herd earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies from Southern Methodist University.
28. Arianna Huffington
Company: Thrive Global
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Arianna Huffington is the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, the founder of The Huffington Post, and the author of 15 books, including Thrive and The Sleep Revolution. In 2016, she launched Thrive Global, a leading behavior change tech company with the mission of changing the way we work and live by ending the collective delusion that burnout is the price we must pay for success.
She has been named to Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union.
She serves on numerous boards, including Onex and The B Team.
Her last two books, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder and The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night At A Time, both became instant international bestsellers. Most recently, she wrote the foreword to Thrive Global's first book Your Time to Thrive: End Burnout, Increase Well-being, and Unlock Your Full Potential with the New Science of Microsteps.
View the complete list of awardees.
29. Oprah Winfrey
Company: Oprah Winfrey Network
Title: Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer
Oprah Winfrey is the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of the Oprah Winfrey Network. She is a world-famous talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist best known for hosting her self-named talk show for more than 25 years, during which time she won 47 Daytime Emmy Awards. She published a magazine, O, that had over two million subscribers until its print run ended in 2020. Her performance in the 1985 film The Color Purple earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Winfrey was the first Black woman to become a billionaire in 2003, and, as of 2014, was the wealthiest self-made woman in the United States. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by President Obama. Winfrey has donated more than $400 million to support educational causes.
31. Rachel Carlson
Company: Guild Education
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Rachel Carlson is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Guild Education, which helps employers design and offer education and upskilling programs that provide employees with individualized pathways to a degree and earn credit for on-the-job training. Denver-based Guild Education is a certified B-Corp, supporting working learners from all 50 states, including 54% whom are students of color and 56% female. She was also the founder and CEO of Student Blueprint, an education technology startup providing college students and institutions with academic and career planning tools. She was selected as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Education. Carlson received her Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a Master of Arts in innovation in higher education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stanford University.
34. Anne Wojcicki
Company: 23andMe
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Anne Wojcicki is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of 23andMe, one of the world’s largest databases of individual genetic information. Its novel, web-based research approach allows for the rapid recruitment of participants to many genome-wide association studies at once, reducing the time and money needed to make new discoveries, and the company has created a proven and standardized resource for finding new genetic associations and confirming genetic loci discovered by others. Under her leadership, 23andMe has made significant advances in bringing personalized medicine directly to the public. Wojcicki received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Yale University.
40. Emily Weiss
Company: Glossier
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Emily Weiss is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glossier, a direct-to-consumer beauty company that leverages content and community to power a superior shopping experience. She is heavily involved in product development and creative and brand marketing, ensuring that all products and content are created with the signature Glossier voice. The company won Women’s Wear Daily’s 2015 Digital Innovator of the Year award and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2017. Weiss has been included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2015, and AdWeek’s Top 20 Content Creators 2016. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from New York University.
43. Alyson Watson
Company: Modern Health
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Alyson Watson is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Modern Health, a mental health platform that focuses on preventive care for mental health. Modern Health helps employers destigmatize the topic of mental health care and provide a digital solution for employees to connect with therapists, as well as providing information on topics ranging from everyday stress to chronic depression. Fortune named Modern Health a Best Place to Work in the Bay Area 2021. Watson earned her undergraduate degrees in global environmental change and sustainability from the Johns Hopkins University.
48. Shan-Lyn Ma
Company: Zola
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Shan-Lyn Ma is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zola, the company that’s reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience by combining compassionate customer service with modern tools and technology. The company’s suite of tools includes the premier all-in-one wedding registry, free wedding websites, a guest list manager, customizable checklist, and beautiful save the dates and wedding invitations. Before starting her company, Ma was the chief product officer of Chloe + Isabel. Prior to that, she was Gilt Groupe’s first product lead, where she headed key new business launches, including their successful foray into mobile. Ma received her Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales.
View the complete list of awardees.
52. Eynat Guez
Company: Papaya Global
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Eynat Guez is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Papaya Global, the first global human resource information system that combines global payroll processes, paperwork, spreadsheets, and non-compliance risk into one automated expert platform by harnessing technologies such as cloud, automation process, artificial intelligence, and business intelligence. She has leadership experience as the CEO of Expert Source and Relocation Source and has also been a longtime mentor at Cracking the Glass Ceiling, an initiative that promotes young women in science education. Guez received her Bachelor of Arts degree in business management and political science from the Open University of Israel.
56. Sophie Kim
Company: Market Kurly
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Sophie Kim is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kurly, one of the largest and fastest-growing dedicated online grocers in South Korea. Kurly is most famous for its unique cold chain delivery system called “morning star delivery,” through which customers can order from more than 7,000 SKUs, ranging from artisan cheeses from France to freshly-harvested strawberries, for preparation overnight and delivery early in the morning. Previously, Kim spent 10 years working for Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Temasek as an investment banker and consultant. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Wellesley College.
58. Morgan DeBaun
Company: Blavity, Inc.
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Morgan DeBaun is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blavity, Inc., the largest media company for Black millennials. Under her leadership, the company has successfully acquired Travel Noire, a travel platform for Black millennials, and Shadow and Act, a Black entertainment news site. DeBaun has also launched several consumer summits, including Summit 21, for Black women creators and entrepreneurs, and AfroTech, the largest tech conference for Black innovators and founders. She is also the founder of M.Roze Essentials and WorkSmart. DeBaun received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.
59. Rebeca Minguela
Company: Clarity AI
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Rebeca Minguela is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Clarity AI, a company whose goal is to ensure socially efficient capital allocation by developing tools to understand social and environmental impact by using scientific research and technology. Prior to founding Clarity, Minguela was global head of digital transformation at Banco Santander. She was also the founder and CEO of Blink Booking, which was purchased by Groupon in 2013. Minguela earned her Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in telecommunications engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and her Master of Science degree in information technology from Universität Stuttgart. She also earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
64. Caryn Seidman-Becker
Company: CLEAR
Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Caryn Seidman-Becker is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CLEAR, a trusted identity verification platform. She also oversees the customer experience, marketing, business development, and people development of the company. In 2004, Seidman-Becker created the Arience Foundation and the Happy Elephant Foundation, which support charter schools, cancer research, child wellness, and the New York City community. She sits on the Board of Directors of Mt. Sinai Children’s Center and the Young Women’s Leadership Network and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City. Seidman-Becker received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Michigan.
69. Isabelle Kenyon
Company: Calibrate
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Isabelle Kenyon is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Calibrate, a weight- and metabolism-management program. Founded in 2019, Calibrate uses lab work, metabolic medication, and coaching to help users change not only their weight but their attitudes about weight loss. Prior to Calibrate, Kenyon led several teams at Capsule and co-founded the retail store Jane. She was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Retail and E-commerce list in 2015. Kenyon began her career as an investment banker in Hong Kong after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
70. Catherine Wood
Company: ARK Investment Management
Title: Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer
Catherine Wood is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer of ARK Investment Management LLC. In 2016, she received the Women in Finance Outstanding Contribution Award from Market Media. Prior to joining ARK, Wood spent 12 years at AllianceBernstein as chief investment officer of Global Thematic Strategies. She joined AllianceBernstein from Tupelo Capital Management, a hedge fund she co-founded which managed $800 million in global thematic strategies in 2000. She previously worked for 18 years with Jennison Associates as chief economist, equity research analyst, portfolio manager, and director. Wood received her Bachelor of Science degree in finance and economics from the University of Southern California.
View the complete list of awardees.
74. Angela Sutherland
Company: Yumi
Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Angela Sutherland is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer and of Yumi, a baby food startup that brands itself as the definitive source for parents seeking to understand what they are feeding their children and why. The company offers a science-based early childhood meal delivery program that is the most convenient and nutritional option on the market and prides itself on making organic meals with all-natural ingredients. Sutherland was previously a director at Sierra Constellation Partners, a private equity firm, and an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. She received her Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Brown University.
76. Stephany Kirkpatrick
Company: Orum
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Stephany Kirkpatrick is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Orum, a digital financial platform designed to enable real-time money movement between institutions and consumers. Orum leverages technology and machine learning to reduce the risk associated with conventional ACH transactions. Kirkpatrick was previously the general manager of digital strategy at SoulCycle and vice president of digital products at Northwestern Mutual. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in international management from Pepperdine University and earned a certificate in personal financial planning from the University of California, Los Angeles.
85. Liz Young
Company: Realm
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Liz Young is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Realm, a real estate platform that helps homeowners understand the potential value of their home. The New York startup is a free service that can be used to look up a property with the option to purchase more in-depth reports with additional advice. The company’s goal is to help homeowners make smart decisions to update their home and realize the full potential value. Prior to founding Realm, Young worked in sales and marketing leadership positions at Reonomy, Groupon, and Bloomberg. She earned her undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Delaware.
88. Padmasree Warrior
Company: Fable
Title: Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Padmasree Warrior is the founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Fable, an online platform connecting people through book clubs and discussions. Fable was founded on the premise that reading not only serves as a break from our hectic lives, but that connection through stories can improve mental health. Warrior is the recipient of numerous awards, including Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, the Wall Street Journal’s 50 Women to Watch, and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. She serves on the board of directors for Microsoft and Spotify. Warrior earned her Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.
89. Tracy Day
Company: World Science Festival
Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Tracy Day is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the World Science Festival, overseeing the creative and programmatic offerings of the festival and producing original theatrical, musical, and multimedia works at the intersection of science and art. She is a four-time National News Emmy Award-winning journalist and has produced live and documentary programming for the nation’s preeminent television news divisions for over two decades. At ABC News she was a producer for This Week with David Brinkley, editorial and field producer for Nightline, and story editor for the news magazine Day One. Day has produced documentaries, specials, and live town meeting broadcasts for PBS, The Discovery Channel, CNN, Lifetime, and CNBC.
96. Meena Ganesh
Company: Portea Medical
Title: Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director
Meena Ganesh is the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director of Portea Medical, India’s largest and fastest-growing home healthcare company. Previously, she was the promoter and board member of TutorVista, and CEO and managing director of Pearson Education Services, which includes innovative and successful brands like TutorVista, a leading online tutoring company, and Edurite, a provider of technology-based solutions and digital content. Ganesh has served as the CEO of Tesco’s operations in India as well as on the Global Retail Council of Tesco. She received her postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and has a graduate degree in physics from Madras University.
View the complete list of awardees.