Elsie Robinson was a journalist, fiction writer and poet. She was best known for her nationally syndicated column, Listen, World! which was read by more than 20 million Americans between 1921-1956. Robinson used her voice to continuously examine and challenge the status quo, especially when it came to women’s perceived roles in society.
Deveson’s first job was with as a journalist with a small newspaper, the Kensington News, in London. She came to Australia in the 1950s and worked at the ABC on various ‘women’s programs’. She was also a presenter at radio station 2GB where she was one of the first people in Australia to use talkback. From 1985 to 1988, she was Executive Director of the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Faith Bandler was a leading campaigner for Aboriginal rights from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Sandra Cisneros has won multiple awards, fellowships, and honors as an internationally recognized writer. On September 22, 2016, President Barack Obama presented Cisneros with the National Medal of Arts for her work. Her book called The House on Mango Street, has sold over six million copies and has been translated into over twenty languages.
Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, is a member of the Mvskoke Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). As a poet, activist, and musician, Joy Harjo’s work has won countless awards. In 2019, Harjo became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in history and is only the second poet to be appointed for three terms.
Known as the mother of the greatest basketball player of all time, Deloris Jordan is more than just Michael Jordan’s mom. Mrs. Jordan has established multiple charities and has served as the President and Founder of the James R. Jordan Foundation for almost two decades. She has also established the Kenya Women and Children’s Wellness Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Labor activist Della Elliott was a strong supporter of causes outside the union movement. She was involved in the wartime Sheepskins for Russia campaign during the war, The League for Democracy in Greece and the Union of Australian Women. She helped historians of the union movement in Australia and, with a collective of women that included Quentin Bryce, worked to establish the Jessie Street National Women’s Library in Sydney. Towards the end of her life, she gifted a scholarship to the University of Sydney Women’s College to assist female Indigenous students.
Aileen Moreton-Robinson is a Goenpul woman from Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island), Quandamooka First Nation (Moreton Bay) in Queensland, and Professor of Indigenous Studies at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Science historian Ann Moyal’s leading work included Clear across Australia: a history of telecommunications (1984); A bright & savage land: scientists in colonial Australia (1986; second edition 1993); and above all Platypus (2001; published in the US under the title Platypus: the extraordinary story of how a curious creature baffled the world), which was a great success and remains in print.
Lani Ka’ahumanu, a leader of the bisexual rights movement in the U.S., has worked for greater visibility for bisexuals both within the LGBTQ movement as well as broader society. An author, community organizer, and health advocate, she has been a driving force behind the fight against biphobia since 1980.