Current Female Leaders

Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership

CURRENT WOMAN LEADERS


Also see Chronological List of Female Presidents,
Woman Heads of State and Government
and Woman Premier Ministers


06.02.1952- Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Her other Realms and Territories, Defender of the Faith and Head of the Commonwealth

The following external territories are part of the kingdom: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. She is also Sovereign of the Channel Islands and Lord of the Isle of Man. Furthermore she is Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand (1952), Jamaica (1962), Barbados, (1966), Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Tuvalu (1978), the Solomon Islands (1978), Papua New Guinea (1975), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1979), Saint Lucia (1979), Antigua and Barbuda (1981), Belize (1981) and Saint Christopher and Nevis (1983). Queen Elizabeth used to be Head of State in most of the countries in the Commonwealth. She is the mother of three sons and a daughter. Married to Phillip Mountbatten, former Prince of Greece and Denmark. (b. 1926-).  


14.01.1972- Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces and Head of the Evangelian-Lutheran Church. The Rigsfælleskab - or
Commonwealth of the Realm - includes the external territories of The Faeroe Islands and Greenland. Married to Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, Prince Henrik. Margrethe II is the mother of two sons. (b. 1940-).


17.09.1997- Governor General Hon. Dr. Dame C. Pearlette Louisy, St. Lucia

Teacher, administrator, Vice-Principal and then Principal of St. Lucia's College. (b. 1946-).

22.11.2005- Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany

1990 Deputy Spokesperson of the Government of the DDR, 1990-98 Deputy Chairperson of CDU, 1991-94 Federal Minister Women and Youth and 1994-98 Federal Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Reactor Safety, 1993-2000 Chairperson of CDU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 1998-2000 Federal Secretary General and since 2000 Federal Chairperson of CDU and 2002-05 also Parliamentary Leader, Chairperson of the European Council and President of the Group of Eight, G-8 in 2007. Née Kasner and married secondly to Joachim Sauer, no children. (b. 1954-).


16.01.2006- Executive President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia

1972-73 and 1977-79 Secretary of State of Finance, 1979-80 Minister of Finance, 1980 President of the National Bank, 1980-85 worked for the World Bank, 1985-86 in house arrest after her return, 1990-92 Leading member of exile-government of Amos Sawyer in United States of America, 1992-97 African Director of the UNDP (United Nations Development Program). From 1997 Leader of the Unity Party. Presidential Candidate in 1997, Candidate for the Chairmanship of the National Transitional Government in 2003 and finally won the presidential elections in November 2005. She is divorced, mother of a number of children, and grandmother. (b. 1938-).


12.07.2009- President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuania
1994-1995 Extraordinary Envoy and Plenipotentiary Minister at the Lithuanian Mission to the EU and Deputy Head Negotiator for the Europe Agreement with EU, 1996-1999 Plenipotentiary Minister at the Embassy in USA, 1999-2000 Vice-Minister of Finance and 2000-01 Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Head of the EU Accession negotiations, 2001-04 Minister of Finance and 2004 EU-Commissioner of Financial Programming and Budget 2004-09. (b. 1956-).

13.03.2013- Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, Republic Srpska (Autonomous Entity Within Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Zeljka Cvijanovic was Minister of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation 2010-13. (b. 1967-).

07.05.2013- Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade, Grenada
Founder and chief executive of La Grenade Industries. (b. 1952-).

20.10.2013- Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Norway
Deputy Leader of Høyre 2002-04 and Party Leader from 2004, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development 2001-05, Deputy to the Prime Minister 2004-05. Married to Sindre Finnes and mother of 2. (b. 1961-).

11.03.2014- Executive President Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Chile

2000-02 Minister of Health, 2002-04 Minister of Defence and President for the first time 2006-10. Her father, a general, was killed by the Pinochet dictatorship. She had two children with her first husband and a daughter with her former partner. (b. 1952-).


06.01.2009- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh

Also Prime Minister 1996-2001. Her father, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-72-75), and most of her family was killed during a military coup in 1975 when she and her sister were abroard. Returned to Bangladesh in 1981, President of the Awami Leauge from 1981, Opposition Leader 1986-87 and 1991-96 and 2001-06. In 1983, she formed the 15-party alliance to launch a movement to oust General Ershad from power and was in and out of prison throughout the 1980s and was under house arrest a few times. Her party, along with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Begum  Khaleda Zia, was instrumental in the movement against the military rule. 2007 she was arrested on corruption and murder charges, but was allowed to go to USA for medical treatment in 2007 though the military supported care-taker government tried to pressure her into exile. Returned in November 2008 to lead her party in the election campaign, which her party won overwealmingly. Married to the nuclear scientist Dr M. A. Wazed Miah and mother a son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and a daughter, Saima Wazed Putul, who both lives in the USA. (b. 1947- ).


04.04.2014- President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Malta
Labour MP 1998-2014 and Minister of Family and Social Solidarity 2013-14. (b. 1958-).

08.07.2014- Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, The Bahamas
Widow of Sir Lynden Pindling (1930-2000) who was Prime Minister of the Colony of Bahamas 1967-73 and of independent Bahamas 1973-92. She was Deputy to the Governor General 2012-14. (b. 1932-).

18.02.2015- President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatia
Appointed Minister of European Integration in 2003 and was also Foreign Minister 2005-08. English and Spanish languages professor and former adviser in the Foreign Ministry. Finished second in the first round of the presidential elections in 2014 and won 50,5 % in the second round. (b. 1968-).

21.03.2015- Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Namibia
Director-General of the National Planning Commission 1997-2003 and Minister of Finance 2003-15. (b. 1967-).

05.06.2015- President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Mauritius
Professor of Organic chemistry and Pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius.

29.10.2015- President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Nepal
Minister for Population and Environment 1997 and Minister of Defence 2009-11, Vice-president of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) 1998-2015. (b. 1961-)

16.11.2015- Prime Minister Beata Szydło, Poland
Vice-President of the Law and Justice party (b. 1963-)

25.11.2015- Premier Katrin Sjögren, Åland (Finish External Territory)
2007-11 Minister of Social Affairs, Health and Care and Environment, Vice-Chairperson of the Liberal Party until 2012 and Party Leader from 2012.

28.01.2016- President Hilda Heine, the Marshall Islands
Former Secretary of Education as well as Senator and Minister of Education 2012-16. (1951-)

07.04.2016- State Councillor Aung San Suu Ky, Myanmar
Her party won 80 % of the votes in the 2015-elections, As the Constitution is designed to prevent her from becoming President, the Parliament created the new powerful position of State Councilor; a role similar to that of Prime Minister. Aso Minister of the President's Office and Foreign Minister. She also won the 1990 elections that were annulled,  was placed under house arrest for a total of 15 years over a 21-year period. General Secretary of he National Leauge for Democracy 1988-2011 and President from 2011, elected MP in 2012 and was Leader of the Opposition 2012-16. Widow of Dr. Michael Aris (1946-1999) and mother of 2 sons. (b. 1945-).

20.05.2016- President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan
Senior Advisor of the National Security Council 1999-2000, Minister and Chairperson of Mainland Affairs Council 2000-04. Member of the Legislative Yuan 2004-06, Vice-Premier and Minister of Consumer Protection 2006-07, Chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party 2008-12 and from 2014 and Presidential Candidate in 2012. Unmarried and no children. (b. 1956-)

13.07.2016- Prime Minister Theresa May, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Conservative MP from 1997, Chairperson of the Conservative Party 2002-03, Home Secretary 2010-16,  Minister for Women and Equality 2010-12 and Party Leader of the Conservative 2016. (b. 1956-).

28.09.2016- Governor General-Dame Patsy Reddy, New Zealand
Lawyer, Chairperson of the New Zealand Film Commission involved in a number of non-governmental organisations, particularly in the arts and gender equality. Married to Sir David Gascoigne. (b. 1952-).

10.10.2016- President Kersti Kaljulai, Estonia
Economic Advisor of the Prime Minister 1999-2002, Member of the European Court of Auditors 2004-2016. Married to George-Rene Maksimovski and mother of 2 sons. (b. 1969-). 

20.12.2016- Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson, Turks and Caicos Islands (British Overseas Territory)
Also Minister of Finance. Deputy Leader in 2012 and Leader of the People's Democratic Movement since 2012 and Leader of the Opposition 2012-16. (b. 1971-).

01.01.2017- President of the Confederation Doris Leuthard, Switzerland

Member of the Assembly in Aargau 1997-2000, Vice-President of Christian Democratic Party, CVP 2001-04,  President of CVP Schweiz 2004-06 and Federal Councillor of Economic Affairs 2006-10 and Federal Councillor of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication, Vice-President in 2009 and 2016 and President in 2010 and 2017. (b. 1963-).

01.04.2017-01.10.2017 Captain Regent Mimma Zavoli, San Marino

As Captain Regent she also chairs the Consiglio Grande e Generale jointly with the other Captain Regent, which for the first time was another woman. Member of the Consiglio Grande e Generale for Civico 10. (b. 1963-).


01.04.2017-01.10.2017 Captain Regent Vanessa d’Ambrosio, San Marino

Member of the Consiglio Grande e Generale for Sinistra Socialista Democratica (b. 1988-).

 
14 September 2017Halimah binti Yacob, Singapore
Halimah binti Yaco is a Singaporean politician who is the current President of Singapore. Formerly a member of the country's governing People's Action Party (PAP), she was the ninth Speaker of Parliament, from January 2013 to August 2017. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Jurong Group Representation Constituency between 2001 and 2015, and Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency between 2015 and 2017.

29 June 2017- Ana Brnabic, Serbia
Ana Brnabić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Брнабић, pronounced [âna bř̩nabit͜ɕ]; born 28 September 1975) is a Serbian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Serbia since 29 June 2017, becoming the first woman and first openly gay person to hold the office.

17 September 2017Mercedes Aráoz Fernández, Peru
Mercedes Rosalba Aráoz Fernández (Lima, 5 August 1961) is a Peruvian economist, professor, politician and the current Second Vice President of Peru, as well as Prime Minister, since September 17, 2017. She served as Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism from 2006 to July 2009, after which she was appointed Peru's finance minister.
 

Last update 01.04.17

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