Why We Created The Groundbreakers

I built Her Agenda by asking ambitious women how they did it.

I started Her Agenda in 2008, when I was 19, because I could not find a media platform that met my ambition where it was. Our series, A Peek Inside Her Agenda, takes readers inside the agendas of women at the top of their industries and asks them how they got there.

This year, we are adding something new to that work. Meet The Groundbreakers, Her Agenda‘s first-ever list of 50 women who are redefining what is possible in their fields.

The list names ten women in each of five categories:

• The Ambitious: women who keep climbing, take risks, launch new initiatives, and reinvent themselves, with great potential still ahead of them.
• The Agenda Setters: women who shape what their industries pay attention to and move the conversation forward.
• The Achievers: women with proven excellence at the top of their fields.
• The Advocates: women who use their positions to fight for fairness and equity.
• The Architects: women building the companies and institutions that others will stand on. They create and reinvent systems, and they write new frameworks and blueprints for their industries.

We will celebrate all 50 in person at The Groundbreakers Awards Gala in New York City on December 1.

Her Agenda exists to bridge the gap between ambition and achievement for women. Our reporting gives women the information they need to move forward, and the Breakthrough Grant puts funding directly into the hands of women entrepreneurs. Recognition was the missing piece.

Recognition works like currency. A woman who is publicly named as a leader in her field gets the next meeting and the benefit of the doubt. Too many women do the work for years before anyone with a platform says their name.

I watch that pattern from a front-row seat. The systems that hand out recognition weren’t built with us in mind. The women our audience looks up to are often missing from the lists the wider business world treats as the standard.

Her Agenda has a platform and 18 years of trust with ambitious women. When I see something that is not right, and it is in my power to do something about it, I jump into action. The Groundbreakers is that action.

We built this with intention at every step. We opened nominations to our community this spring, because the women who read Her Agenda know who is doing the work long before a headline confirms it. Nominations closed on July 18, and our team spent the months since then building the final list.

The five categories are designed to honor women at every stage. The Ambitious is defined by momentum, and some of the women in that category are seasoned leaders who keep taking risks and reinventing themselves. The Achievers recognizes women at the top of their fields. The other three categories recognize the kind of impact a woman has, from the conversations she moves to the institutions she builds.

This is the first class, which means it sets the standard for every class that follows. We chose women whose impact shows up in what they built and who they brought along with them. These are the women who didn’t wait for permission to build the future.

My intention for our readers is just as specific. I want a woman reading this list to find someone at her own stage and see what is possible for her next.

We will celebrate the honorees throughout November on our Groundbreakers showcase page and across our social channels. On December 1, we will gather in New York City for the inaugural Groundbreakers awards gala. The details are at groundbreakersgala.heragenda.com.

This is the first year of The Groundbreakers, and nominations for the class of 2027 are open now. If you know a woman who belongs on next year’s list, nominate her here.

Read the full list of honorees and share it with a woman who needs to see it. Then join us on December 1.

No one ever slows her agenda, and these 50 women are the proof.