“I have tried to be a leader. I have tried in my role of being one of the first women at Google, let alone the first woman to have a baby, to really try to set the tone that this is a great place to work for diversity reasons.” ~ Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube
Summary: Women CEOs are few and far between, especially in tech companies, making Susan Wojcicki an essential inclusion on a list of influential women. As CEO of YouTube who has been called the most important person in advertising, Wojcicki has made important statements on the power and effectiveness of empowering video ads, encouraging advertisers to empower women instead of perpetuating damaging stereotypes that are typically employed in advertising. Wojcicki has also been part of a movement to increase the number of female employees at YouTube, having increased from 24% to nearly 30%. By addressing gender imbalance in the workplace and through advocating empowering advertisements, Susan Wojcicki’s work creates a positive impact affecting women around the world.
Nationality: American
Company: Youtube
Net worth: 25 billion USD (2013)
Q: You’ve been described by TIME magazine as the most powerful woman on the internet. How does that sit with you? on money.cnn.com
A: You see a lot of powerful women on the internet, but I wish there were more. One of the things that I’m trying to do is use the position that I’m in … to encourage the next generation of girls to think about the internet as a career opportunity. I think the internet really could use a lot more women. I think people have forgotten the role that early women played in computer science and [the first computer programmer] Ada Lovelace is a great example of that.
