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Making Positive Change By Using The Power of Her Words KaeLyn Elizabeth Lee Rich uses her voice to teach about activism, intersectionality, and LGBTQ issues, empowering others to make positive change in their community. An adoptee from South Korea, KaeLyn always knew she was different from others in her community. She and her sister were […]

Blazing The Path To Freedom Anna Murray Douglass was a key stationmaster on Rochester’s Underground Railroad and made Frederick Douglass’s work possible.  Anna was a resourceful woman. She worked hard as a domestic servant and saved enough so that by the time she met Frederick Douglass, she was able to help fund his escape from […]

A “Pretty Girl” Boxes Out the Competition Mercedes Vázquez-Simmons won the 2014 Person of the Year award from the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame. Mercedes reigned as Miss Puerto Rico of Rochester in the late 1980s; nearly three decades later she earned recognition for her work as the first Latina boxing promoter in New […]

For the Love of Justice Danielle ‘Dee” Ponder is a defense attorney, speaker, and local social justice activist who has dedicated over 15 years to organizing and advocating for marginalized communities. Dee has worked on issues such as education funding, women’s rights, criminal justice reform, and she has become an active and inspiring voice in […]

Illuminating Untold Stories Through Film Mara Ahmed is a multimedia artist and activist filmmaker whose work breaks boundaries, shifts assumptions, and inspires dialogue.  Mara was born in Pakistan and grew up in Belgium. She moved to the United States in 1993 and began a career in finance. She resigned from her corporate job in 2004 […]

Spanning Worlds and Disciplines to Heal Katsi Cook’s work spans many worlds and disciplines, and demonstrates a lifelong career of advancing the superlatives of Indigenous Knowledge. Katsi draws from a Haudenosaunee traditionalist perspective the idea of Woman as the First Environment. Her groundbreaking environmental research of Mohawk mothers’ milk revealed the harmful generational impact of […]

About The Changemaker An inspiration to young scientists everywhere, Rebeca, an Argentinian scientist, was a pioneer in her field. Born in Buenos Aires, she was a tireless fighter for the rights of women in science fields. Rebeca conducted groundbreaking research at the University of Rochester on the links between oxygen and aging. Her discoveries and […]

Mother of Nations Jikonsaseh’s actions brought peace and reinforced Haudenosaunee women’s important responsibilities. According to oral tradition, nearly 1,000 years ago, along a wooded ridge east of Lewiston, NY at Fort Kienuka, Jikonsaseh, a Neutral woman leader, held considerable skill in diplomacy, controlling the warriors who traveled along a nearby path. Within this leadership role […]

Revolutionizing the Heritage of Women in Business After working as a maid for 25 years, immigrant Martha Matilda Harper innovated organic only products and equipment that changed the beauty industry and launched modern retail franchising to enable poor women to gain financial independence, pioneering the franchise method and social entrepreneurship for women’s empowerment. Bound into […]

Dancing for Diversity, Equity and Access  Aesha Ash is the first African American woman hired as permanent faculty at the School of American Ballet in the institution’s 86 year history.  Born and raised in Rochester, at 13 years old Aesha was accepted into the prestigious School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City, where […]