The American Program Bureau is proud to represent women who are helping shape the world's political, social, and environmental future. Featuring current and former international heads of state, as well as celebrated philanthropists, influential policymakers, and prize-winning journalists and authors, APB's prominent female speakers are securing our world for future generations.
**Don't forget: March is Women's History Month and prominent women speakers' schedules fill up fast. Check out our Women's History Month speaker page for fresh ideas for pioneering business women, women leaders, and women's issues speakers for your Women's History Month engagements.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Internationally known as Africa’s “Iron Lady,” President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman to lead an African nation. A Harvard-educated former World Bank economist, she is a leading promoter of peace, justice, and democratic rule who was recently honored with a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in ...
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Former Prime Minister of Norway, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Dr. Brundtland has been a prominent force in addressing key issues such as healthcare, economic sustainability, and the challenges to the environment throughout the world. ...
Mary Robinson
As first female President of Ireland, Robinson increased the status of the nation. Formerly the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she now advises businesses worldwide on ethical practices and management. In addition to her role as Executive Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, she is one of five members ...
Gail Sheehy
As the best-selling author of over a dozen books, including Passages, Gail Sheehy has rocked the culture and changed the way millions of women and men look at the stages of their lives. A Library of Congress survey named Passages one of the ten most influential books of our time. In her latest book, ...
Lee Woodruff
After her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, sustained a critical brain injury in Iraq, they together penned In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing, The New York Times best-selling book about their family’s difficult journey through Bob’s recovery. Now, in her latest book, ...
Sheryl WuDunn
As a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and professional speaker, Sheryl WuDunn offers a unique perspective on current economic, political and social issues such as women's rights. As co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Half the Sky, WuDunn calls attention to the trials and triumphs of women ...
Mariane Pearl
Pearl is a unique and versatile award-winning journalist who has written A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl, a gripping and profound narrative of her experience and the pursuit of those who captured and killed her husband, Daniel Pearl, the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall ...
Terry McMillan
Since McMillan's breakout novel Waiting to Exhale surged onto The New York Times bestseller list, critics and readers alike have been captivated by her irreverent, often-hilarious take on the issues faced by contemporary African American women. With several of her bestsellers, including Waiting to ...
Rhonda Kallman
Recognized as the "Pioneering Woman in the Beer Industry," Rhonda Kallman is the co-founder of Boston Beer Company (the maker of Sam Adams beers), where she helped revolutionize craft brewing. She is currently the CEO of McMillan Distillery.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Hunter-Gault made civil rights history as the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Georgia. Now, as one of television's premier journalists, she challenges convention with her insights. A special correspondent for NPR based in South Africa, she has written New News Out of Africa, which ...
M. Joycelyn Elders
As a pediatric endocrinologist and 15th Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Elders has a deep concern for young people and teaches that education, prevention, and responsibility are the keys to a healthy life. An outspoken advocate on behalf of children, she is an expert on the prevention of child abuse, teen ...
Johnnetta Cole
One of the most powerful well-regarded African American women in the US, Johnnetta B. Cole has a way with making history. As the first female African American President of Spelman College, the first woman ever elected to the Board of Coca-Cola Enterprises, and the first African American woman to serve as Chair of the ...
Venus Williams
By the tender age of 14, Venus Williams had already become a professional athlete, taking the world of tennis by storm. Fiercely determined and wielding an impressive physical prowess, she spent the next decade rising to the top-ranked position and winning numerous championships, including the US Open, Wimbledon, and ...
Kim Campbell
Having made history as Canada's first female Prime Minister, The Right Honorable Campbell is among the most celebrated world leaders. Expanding her global influence, she was instrumental as Co-Founder of Club of Madrid, an organization of current and former heads of state and government dedicated to strengthening ...
Jehan Sadat
Beautiful, dignified, courageous, controversial, and known as The First Lady of the World, Madame Jehan Sadat has played a key role in many history-making events of today's Middle East. Madame Sadat, widow of the late President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, was born in Cairo, Egypt. Her autobiography is entitled A Woman of ...
Kay Koplovitz
Koplovitz is the founder of USA Networks and the first woman network president in television history. A pioneer in cable television networks and new media ventures, she is a visionary woman who led the emergence of cable television from the backcountry of America to challenge the mighty broadcast networks for coveted ...
Laura Ingraham
Political journalist, Ingraham is the host of "The Laura Ingraham Show," a nationally syndicated radio program. Ingraham appears regularly on several television programs, and is known for her unique ability to jump back and forth between the political, entertainment, and media worlds with her signature wit and pithy ...
Shirin Ebadi
An extraordinary woman of many firsts, Iranian lawyer and activist Ebadi has made history as the first Muslim to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous defense of human rights in Iran. One of the most intelligent, passionate, and respected voices of dissent from within this complex nation, she speaks to the world ...
Alexandra Cousteau
A globally recognized advocate on water quality and policy, Alexandra Cousteau continues the work of her renowned grandfather Jacques-Yves and father Philippe Cousteau. With the unique ability to draw audiences into the weighty issues of policy, politics, and action, Cousteau is dedicated to advocating the importance of ...
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Wife of slain civil rights activist, Medgar Evers, Evers-Williams became the first woman to lead and restore the credibility of the NAACP during a time when it was surrounded by scandal and controversy. She continues her activism on behalf of racial and gender equality and is co-author of The Autobiography of Medgar ...
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