Dame Jenny Shipley, DNZM (born 4 February 1952), served as the 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand from December 1997 to December 1999.

She was the first woman to hold this office and the first, and to date only, woman to serve as leader of the National Party of New Zealand.

Shipley was born as Jennifer Mary Robson in Gore, New Zealand, one of four sisters. 

TED2012 kicked off on February 27, and runs for four fantastic days.

TEDsters around the world are glued to their #TED2012 livestreams (Yay TED Live!), #Twitter streams, and the TED 2012 website, hanging off of every word, thirsty for the latest in ideas, imagination and innovation.

I myself, a long-time TED fan and associate, and now a TEDLiver, am among them. There are at least a thousand reasons I love TED, and I love that I get to experience this year's conference livestream.

Here's the astonishingly interesting line-up (in alphabetical order by first name), of amazing women who rocked the stage at TED2012. (There may have been one or two more due to last-minute program changes...)

When they took the TED stage, these 17 women became role models for millions of girls and young women who aspire to one day take the stage and make their voices heard around the world.

(But 17 is not nearly enough. We need more women on stages everywhere!)