BlogHer VOTY 100: Meet Our Social Impact Leader Honorees

Explore the entire BlogHer VOTY 100 digital issue.

Voices of the Year (VOTY) is BlogHer’s annual celebration of women doing culture-shifting work for the greater good. This year, we’ve expanded this initiative into the VOTY 100, a list of changemakers across 10 categories: Wellness Champions, Small Business Owners, Creators, Eco Impact Warriors, Next Gen Creatives, Biz Experts, Innovators, Social Impact Leaders, Storytellers, and Community Builders.

Thanks to these change-makers, underserved groups are able to connect, support, and celebrate one another online and beyond.

Mandana Dayani, Creator & Co-Founder of I am a voter.

What is your proudest moment of the past year? 

Watching the inauguration with my two daughters, Anderson and Miller.

When you’re in a rut, how do you get inspired?

My husband, who is my rock through everything, and my parents, who thrived against all odds. I always try to emulate their dedication to our family as the foundation of everything we do.

I also look to the founding team of I am a voter. for constant inspiration. All of these incredible women have become my closest friends and mentors and it is just such a privilege to finally find your people.

What is something you wish you knew at the start of your career?

That failing is okay and I should never let my own fear of failure guide my decisions. I wish I knew how important it is to be vulnerable. I spent so much of my life trying to project what I thought was “perfect” and it was so exhausting. Really being myself and having the courage to honor it has been the most rewarding and liberating part of my career.

Sharon Cuter, Founder of UOMA Beauty and Pull Up For Change

In addition to running her wildly successful makeup brand, UOMA Beauty, this seasoned beauty executive is also shifting corporate culture (and beyond) with Pull Up For Change. What started off as a #PullUpOrShutUp viral challenge—where companies revealed their number of Black employees—has grown into a non-profit, direct action movement, for the economic advancement of Black people across various industries.

MILCK, Singer-Songwriter & Advocate

What is your proudest moment of the past year? 

My proudest moment was the fact that I allowed myself to process the paralyzing perfectionism that I didn’t even realize I had. This past year has been a time to reckon with the existing social inequities and racist systems in society, while also being limited to social media platforms. I found myself fearing that I would say something harmful with my posts, or expose blind spots that would cause intentional harm. As I looked at this fear, I was able to identify a deeper form of perfectionism I had been holding within me, ever since I was a little girl.

I remember being told by my father that I would need to do things three times better than everyone else in order to get a chance at life as a woman of color. As an Asian-American woman, I straddle the privilege of proximity to whiteness, while also the disadvantage of still being othered. The intricate web of privilege and oppression is complex and was holding me to a standard of perfectionism that was silencing me. I openly started sharing about this mental and emotional challenge so that I would be able to get over the fears and do the work to speak out against anti-Black and anti-Brown issues. This was able to connect with others who felt the same. With the help of communal acknowledgment, deeper healing has begun for me, and other fellow Asian-American siblings.

When you’re in a rut, how do you get inspired?

I look at the grocery store worker that is giving his/her/their all, with that extra energy and presence. I look at the customer service caller who resiliently helps with compassion and empathy, no matter what number of frustrated customers she has to talk to. I look to my best friend who fiercely shows up to the dance studio every day, no matter how she’s feeling. Anyone who is truly putting themselves fully into their present moment. These people remind me to do the same.

What is something you wish you knew at the start of your career?

I wish that I knew that I was enough. That I didn’t need any bells and whistles, or overly huge personality to be worthwhile as a singer-songwriter. That feeling of enoughness would have allowed me to take time in my decision-making processes, and to honor each project I embarked on with luster and zeal. That feeling of enoughness would have been able to remind me that I didn’t need any gatekeepers, gizmos, or gadgets to deem me a worthy artist. My strength has always been about simplicity and vulnerability. And that is enough.

Mary Pryor, Co-Founder of Cannaclusive

Mary Pryor’s childhood in Detroit immersed her into the worlds of automotive design, electrical engineering, music, education, digital arts, and marketing at a young age. Pryor’s exposure allowed her to work for well-known brands across a diversity of industries. After noticing a lack of specialized agencies, she founded the WeFancy and UrbanSocialista consulting firms herself. Currently, Pryor uses her digital innovation skills to promote social equity and inclusive marketing in the cannabis industry. She is the co-founder of Cannaclusive and serves as the New York Chapter President of Minorities for Medical Marijuana and CMO for Tonic CBD and Tricolla Farms. Additionally, she serves as a board member and advisor for other cannabis companies with similar initiatives.

 

Aurora James, Founder of Brother Vellies & The 15 Percent Pledge

In addition to her work as the Creative Director for luxury brand Brother Vellies, James also founded The Fifteen Percent Pledge in 2020, an initiative that strongly encourages retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses. After a year, James had over 2 dozen major corporations commit to the pledge.

 

Ai-jen Poo, Co-Founder & Executive Director of National Domestic Workers Alliance

As Co-founder and Executive Director of the non-profit, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-Jen Poo works with her over 200,000 members to protect the rights and dignity of home cleaners. In 2011, Poo created Caring Across Generations, a campaign to enact policy changes which would improve America’s care infrastructure. Her book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America, expands on her ideas for improving access to care for all. As a prominent women’s activist, she co-founded SuperMajority, serves as a Senior Advisor to Care in Action, and became an influential voice in the #MeToo movement.

 

Christy Turlington, Advocate & Founder of Every Mother Counts

Christy Turlington Burns is a mother, global maternal health advocate, and Founder & CEO of Every Mother Counts. After experiencing a childbirth-related complication following the delivery of her first child in 2003, Christy directed and produced the documentary feature film, No Woman, No Cry, to explore challenges and solutions that impact maternal and infant health around the world. In 2010, she founded Every Mother Counts to heighten awareness about the global maternal health crisis. Every Mother Counts invests in programs around the world to ensure all women have access to quality maternal healthcare.

 

Naomi Osaka, Professional Tennis Player & Advocate

With a powerful 120 mile per hour serve, Naomi Osaka is currently dominating the professional tennis field. Following her four-time Grand Slam wins, Osaka was named the No. 1 player in women’s tennis, and remains a reigning champion. She recently taught the sports world a valuable lesson on mental health when she stepped away from the game to take time for herself despite harsh criticisms and continually uses her platform to shed light on issues related to racial inequality.

 

Blair Imani, Educator, Influencer & Author

Blair Imani is a historian, author, educator, and influencer with a proud intersectional identity. Centering her work around women and girls, global Black communities, and the LGBTQ community, Blair Imani authored Read This to Get Smarter: about Race, Class, Gender, Disability, and More, Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream, and Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History. She founded Equality for HER and takes the frontlines at anti-police violence protests. She promotes her “progressive lessons” through her viral micro-learning series, Smarter in Seconds, and in her talks, including, “Queer & Muslim: Nothing to Reconcile.”

Michelle Saahene & Melissa DePino, Co-Founders of From Privilege to Progress

After connecting over a shared witnessing of the unjust arrest of two Black men at a Starbucks in 2018, Michelle Saahene and Melissa DePino opened a new dialogue surrounding modern-day racism and started From Privilege to Progress, a national movement aiming for the desegregation of American discourse surrounding race and racism. Today, they keep the conversation alive through social media campaigns and by speaking at events against racial injustice, urging followers to #ShowUp against racism.

Subscribe to the BlogHer newsletter for more tactical advice, exclusive content, and timely event updates.