for her hard-hitting coverage
of modern politics and
hot-button issues. “If you want
to become a badass, outwork
the competition and don’t take
no for an answer,” she says.5 HANNAH BEACHLER
The Black Panther “worldcreator” and first female
production designer for Marvel
became the first African
American to win a production
design Academy Award earlier
this year for her work on the hit.
“It has to be successful for the
barriers to actually come down,
and that’s what happened,” she
says. “I want to leave a ripple in
the culture.” With previous
projects like designing the set
for Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning
visual album Lemonade and
setting the scene for acclaimed
drama Moonlight, she’s already
accomplished that goal.6 CARLY YOOST Through
her Child Rescue Coalition
nonprofit, Yoost provides law
enforcement in 91 countries
with technology to identify child-
pornography traders, which
has put thousands of predators
behind bars and prevented the
abuse of more than 500,000
kids. She’s been named a
L’Oréal Paris Women of
Worth National Honoree for
her work. “This technology
is saving children’s lives,” she
says. “That’s something we
should all be fighting for.”1 MINDY KALING At 24 she
became the first woman and
person of color to join the
writers’ room on NBC’s cult
comedy The Office. Since then
her career has taken off, with
TV shows, big-budget films,
and two best-selling memoirs.
Her latest project, Late Night,
which marked the first time
she has written, produced, and
starred in a feature film, is
centered on a writer who
challenges diversity and the role
of women at work. Up next?
An Indian wedding comedy with
Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Think
of it as the subcontinent’s
answer to Crazy Rich Asians.2 ABIGAIL DISNEY
Despite the long shadow of
her family name, she has
carved out her own space as a
philanthropist, an activist, and
an Emmy-winning documentary
filmmaker. She considers
herself a peace builder,
hell-bent on seeking justice—
even when that means taking
the family company to task
for the huge pay gap between
CEO Robert Iger and other
employees. “From time to time
I’m going to enrage people on
my own side, and that’s hard,”
she says. “But there’s incredible
strength in stepping into
danger, trouble, or conflict
on behalf of others. It’s the
right thing to do.”There’s incredible
strength in stepping into
conflict on behalf of others.
It’s the right thing to do.”
—ABIGAIL DISNEYMINDY
KALING
BRIG. GEN.
JEANNIE
LEAVITT
(right)
with Brie
LarsonCARLY
YOOST
NORAH HANNAH
BEACHLER
3
BRIGADIER GENERAL JEANNIE LEAVITT
In 1993, after graduating first in her class, she
asked to fly a fighter jet, knowing that the U.S.
Air Force wouldn’t yet allow it. Months later, when
officials changed their minds, she became the Air
Force’s first female fighter pilot. Now the brigadier
general (and muse for Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel)
heads up Air Force recruitment, a role in which
she hopes to inspire more women to take the lead.
“We all think of movie stars as superheroes, but the
Marvel team saw our airmen as the superheroes,”
Leavitt says. “That was really neat.”4 NORAH O’DONNELL
In May the award-winning
journalist became the third
woman ever to solo-host a
network evening news
broadcast. As anchor and
managing editor of CBS
Evening News she has already
earned respect and acclaimABIGAIL
DISNEY
48 InSTYLE AUGUST 2019