This ground-breaking collection responds to the many big questions and pressing issues women face about life and work today. It features 67 inspirational women, many world leaders, from diverse backgrounds and careers, each with their own powerful and compelling story to tell.
The interviews are illustrated with stunning, original photography by Sane Seven, beautiful illustrations and an accompanying documentary film. The remarkable women include Julia Gillard, Nadia Murad, Tarana Burke, Dame Sarah Storey, Sheryl Crow, Geena Davis, Katie Piper, Judy Murray, Jodie Whittaker, Twiggy, Bernardine Evaristo OBE and Bobbi Brown and many more women you have not yet heard about, artists, activists, engineers, writers, athletes and entrepreneurs.
Many have triumphed over adversity or broken free from the constraints of their individual circumstances. Each story shows us that there are countless routes to fulfilment and prove that no one way is right or guaranteed success. As with The Female Lead Volume I, this will be donated to schools, colleges and universities in the UK and USA, and all proceeds from book sales will fund The Female Lead’s educational foundation.
Speaking about the project, Dunn said, “I want to encourage ambition and self-belief in young women.”
“I still believe that you can’t be what you can’t see.”
“We need many more women to be seen and for their story to be told”.
“These new stories reflect a different time.”
“Since the pandemic, we are all living through seismic changes and working through uncharted new territory.”
“These women offer up their experience and wisdom so that we can learn from what they’ve already lived through and overcome.”
“We hope that their story will guide and inspire future generations.”
The interviews were shaped by findings from The Female Lead’s Women At Work research report, conducted in collaboration with Cambridge University psychologist, Dr Terri Apter and published in March 2021
In 2021, The Female Lead has been supported by Allen & Overy, Barclays, BT, General Mills, Hormel, HSBC, Kimberly-Clark, No7, P&G, RBC and SJP. The book and films will be unveiled at a Celebration Launch, at The Ned, London, on 8th November.
The stories of 67 remarkable women, from diverse backgrounds, interviewed exclusively for this collection.
All show the incredible strength, talent, ingenuity, resilience, and bravery that women possess. Among them world leaders, artists, activists, engineers, writers, athletes and entrepreneurs. So many have beaten the odds to succeed in their fields of work; or broken free from the constraints of their individual circumstances.
They are trailblazers. They are heroines. And we celebrate them all.
In 2017, The Female Lead launched their first book profiling 60 inspiring women who shape the world, providing positive role models for young people.
This second volume reflects a different time. In 2021 we face unprecedented challenges and young women are looking for answers to big questions and guidance on how to navigate their futures. These stories show young women the countless routes to fulfilment and prove that no one journey is right or successful. How we must find our own paths and question the traditional options that women have been granted until now. They reveal new ways of achieving our dreams, of challenging discrimination and changing the world for the better.
The women profiled in this book have come together to inspire future generations and to honour the women on whose shoulders we stand. The title We rise by lifting others is woven throughout the book; a belief in the need for a collective effort to make positive change. Not just for women, but for everyone.