Meet The Ambitious: 10 Groundbreakers Who Keep Climbing

The Ambitious honors women who keep climbing. They take risks and launch new initiatives, and they are willing to reinvent themselves when the work calls for it.

We built this category around momentum instead of age or title. Some of these women are early in their careers, and others are seasoned leaders starting a new chapter. What they share is that their greatest potential is still ahead of them.

This category matters to Her Agenda because ambition is where our work starts. Our mission is to bridge the gap between ambition and achievement, and these ten women show what it looks like to stay in motion.

Content Creator and Entrepreneur, Allyiah’s Face

Allyiah started as a beauty creator and turned her audience’s trust into a business. Her Dossier fragrance collaboration generated $1.1 million in a single day, and she anchored YouTube’s flagship Brandcast in front of more than 10,000 industry leaders. She has also shaped long-term campaigns for retailers like Marshalls.

Her next move is ownership. As Founding Creator of Sensori, Allyiah has a seat where products get made and equity gets shared, which is still rare for creators.

“Building my brand from community trust into true entrepreneurship has been about breaking ceilings,” she says, “and I hope it inspires other women to own their ambition boldly and unapologetically.”

Co-Founder & President, Qru

Arielle co-founded Qru with a vision to disrupt the conference business. Qru replaces the traditional conference with small, curated communities where leaders in marketing, media, and technology connect in intimate settings. She leads its community and product strategy.

Before Qru, Arielle ran the Center of Excellence at Brand Innovators, where she rebuilt the community strategy and led the company’s expansion into new markets. Leaving that role to start her own company took the kind of self-trust she talks about openly. “To me, ambition comes from within,” she says. “It’s a complete and total deep trust in yourself, even through uncertainty and difficult moments.”

Mayor (2025-2026), City of Lakewood, California

Cassandra was elected to the Lakewood City Council in 2022 and served as mayor from 2025 to 2026, representing more than 80,000 residents. Her priorities as mayor included youth empowerment and community wellness, which reflect her belief that a healthy city is one where every resident feels seen.

She brought a background in education and social entrepreneurship to public office. As co-founder of Read Lead, Cassandra helped create literacy-based summer and after-school programs for young people. Her work connects education with civic leadership, giving students the tools and confidence to shape their communities. “I believe in people’s capacity to become,” she says, “and that it’s the job of leaders to build the conditions where that becoming is possible.”

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Shinko Media, LLC

Imani calls herself an “Opportunity Enthusiast,” and her record supports the title. Over more than 20 years in media and advertising, she created Personal Data Week and pioneered data-driven audiences for HBCUs and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. At Tribune, she built the company’s first campaign to span all of its addressable platforms.

Today she leads Shinko and Ink & Impact, a community of nearly 500 leaders who turn their collective influence into economic opportunity. Two decades in, Imani is still starting new things. “My ambition has never been about collecting titles,” she says, “but about making my presence count.”

Founder & Head of Creative, The Em Dash Co

Jayde has spent more than 13 years in marketing and now runs The Em Dash Co, a social-first creative agency. She has led projects for Netflix, Timberland, LinkedIn, and The Coca-Cola Company, and she created Creator Tea Talk as a resource hub for conversations about creators and culture.

Her influence comes from candor. Jayde is known for her humorous presence on LinkedIn, which she nicknamed “The Briefcase App,” and for championing Black, brown, and queer creatives in her industry. Adweek and Business Insider have both recognized her expertise. “It’s proof that telling the truth online is its own kind of ambition,” she says of this honor.

Two-time Olympian and Olympic Gold Medalist

Jordan reached elite gymnastics at age 11 and has been raising the standard ever since. She helped Team USA win Olympic silver in Tokyo and gold in Paris, and she is the longest consecutively tenured member of the USA Gymnastics National Team. At UCLA, she earned 23 All-American honors and became the first Bruin gymnast to win two national uneven bars titles.

Her ambition now reaches well past the gym. Jordan is the New York Times bestselling author of I‘m That Girland a member of TIME100’s inaugural Most Influential People in Sports list. She also speaks openly about mental health and body positivity, which gives young athletes a fuller picture of what success can look like.

Founder & CEO, Breshna.io

Mariam spent nearly 15 years at the World Bank before she bet on a different way to teach. She founded Breshna.io, a platform that lets anyone create purposeful video games without writing code. More than 180,000 game makers have used it, and their games have been played over 2.5 million times.

Investors including Paris Hilton and Randi Zuckerberg have backed the company, and Mariam has won both the Web Summit Qatar PITCH competition and Entrepreneur’s Elevator Pitch. She credits persistence for the progress. “Building Breshna means showing up every day, even when progress is slow,” she says, “because I believe more people deserve the chance to create.”

Product Marketing Manager, Voices Lead, LinkedIn

Nakaiya works in product marketing at LinkedIn, the latest stop in a career that includes Comcast, Johnson & Johnson, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She is a graduate of Spelman College and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

What sets her apart is how much she builds outside her job. Nakaiya founded Kandid Kaiya, a digital platform for candid career conversations with women across industries, and she has spent more than a decade mentoring through organizations like Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta. Her motto is “Lift as you climb,” and she lives it while her own climb is still underway.

“I’ve always believed ambition is about more than just what we accomplish,” Nakaiya says. “It’s about pursuing our goals while making room for others to do the same.”

VP, Business Operations, Cognitiv and US Lead, The Women in Programmatic Network

Rebecca, known as RAD, helps executive teams at scaling companies adopt AI responsibly. Her work covers the unglamorous parts of transformation, from vendor pilots to the planning routines that turn strategy into execution.

She pairs that work with advocacy. Rebecca is the U.S. board lead for The Women in Programmatic Network, a nonprofit advancing pay and parity for women in adtech, and she backs startups as an angel investor. She is also a 92NY Women inPower Fellow.

“Being named an Ambitious honoree is proof that building for others eventually builds something for you too,” she says.

Vice President of Marketing, 300 Entertainment

Tashana has worked her way up through the music business over nearly two decades. She started in video promotion and marketing at Atlantic Records in 2008, then spent three years at Taylor Gang running day-to-day operations for Ty Dolla $ign.

She joined 300 Entertainment as Director of Marketing in 2018 and was promoted twice in six years. Tashana became Vice President of Marketing in July 2024 and now oversees marketing across the label’s roster, where she has worked on the rise of artists including HUNXHO and BlakeIANA. Her path shows what steady, earned advancement looks like.

Click here to meet all 50 inaugural Groundbreakers and learn more about the December 1 Gala.