The most powerful Black women of 2021

10. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made history as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General. The appointment made her the first Black woman to occupy the global organization and also the first African to occupy the position.

She was educated at Harvard and has a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Okonjo-Iweala is the recipient of numerous awards, including Honorary Doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Brown University, and Amherst College, among others. She is the recipient of Time magazine’s European Hero of the Year Award, 2004, for her work on economic reform in Nigeria, among many other recognitions.

She is ranked as the 91st most powerful woman in the world and 10th most powerful Black woman.