Esperanza Spalding was gifted with a natural talent for music. Not only is she an amazing jazz singer, but she can also play the upright bass at the same time, a skill that takes most musicians years to be able to do. While her music is categorized as jazz, she incorporates elements of R&B and Brazilian music into her songs.
She was the first woman to become a city councillor in Palmerston North, serving from 1962 to 1968. Because of her disability, she worked tirelessly for the New Zealand Crippled Children Society.
As one of the first female veterans elected to the Senate, Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth has been a tireless advocate for veterans and new mothers. A Purple Heart recipient, Senator Duckworth has never let her use of a wheelchair slow her down.
Alice Wong is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community that fosters and amplifies disability media and culture. A Chinese-American activist and writer, Wong fights for access and representation for people with disabilities from all backgrounds.
Pioneering agent for the Special Operations Executive in occupied France during WWII
Disability culture activist and community performance artist
Educator and disability rights activist
Renowned author and Hansen’s disease activist who resided in Kalaupapa from 1937 until her death in 2006.
American biochemist who developed a groundbreaking procedure that led to a reliable tuberculosis test (TB test), used to detect the potentially deadly virus in infants, children and adults worldwide. She also contributed to the development of safety measures for intravenous drug therapy.
Though over 400 women served in the Civil War posing as male soldiers, Williams was the first African American woman to enlist and the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army, while disguised as a man, during the Indian Wars. Williams is also the only known female Buffalo Soldier.