Meet the Inspiring Women in Tech From Time's Top 100

Updated on April 16, 2015 at 2:49 PM

Some little girls look up to Disney princesses, while others have totally badass tech queens for role models. We're gonna take a minute to appreciate the latter. When Time released its 100 Most Influential People in the World list earlier today, a few inspiring women in the tech world made the cut. And while they've been busy taking the industry by storm for the past few years, you may not know much about them — until now.

Anita Sarkeesian

Who she is: This early-30s Canadian American has a master's degree in social/political thought and was the first woman to be named a Game Developers Choice ambassador for her work regarding sexism in video games.

What she does: Using her site, Feminist Frequency, Sarkeesian addresses the representation of women throughout pop culture, focusing specifically on gaming. Remember GamerGate? She was at the helm of that ship.

Why she's a badass: Anita is constantly harassed for her feminist stance on gaming — a single look at her Twitter shows the extent to which she is berated by angry gamers. Threats of death and violence don't stop her from speaking her mind, though, and she's making a serious impact on the geek world. Thanks to Anita, video games are becoming more accepting of women and abandoning offensive, misogynist tropes.

Susan Wojcicki

Who she is: This 46-year-old Harvard grad was one of the original Google employees as a marketing manager — and in fact, the company started in her garage.

What she does: Now the CEO of YouTube, Wojcicki is reshaping the video platform to make it even better. With tens of billions of views per year, YouTube is going strong under its new CEO's direction.

Why she's a badass: Wojcicki is married with five kids, and she's been an outspoken advocate for working moms. Wojcicki promotes paid maternity leave and proves that women can have families while also achieving vast success in the business world.

Elizabeth Holmes

Who she is: The youngest self-made female billionaire ever, the 31-year-old dropped out of Stanford during her undergraduate engineering studies at 19 to change the world.

What she does: Holmes is founder and CEO of her own health technology company, Theranos. The company's needle-free blood test system is well on its way to revolutionizing health care.

Why she's a badass: Holmes is basically a biotech superhero, and she's using her powers for good. Her painless blood sample invention is extremely accessible and affordable, which means that preventative testing for diseases is right around the corner. While she has encountered stumbling blocks in a male-dominated industry, Elizabeth works hard and won't stop until she's changed the world of health care.