Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.

Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, love. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame.

She is also the author of The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.

Leymah Roberta Gbowee is the executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, based in Accra, Ghana.

She is a founding member and former coordinator of the Women in Peacebuilding Program/West African Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP).

Gbowee is one of a trio of women to have jointly been awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

Karen Bass has traveled the world to explore and capture footage from every environment across the earth.

She says: "My ultimate filming experience - filming Bonobos for Pygmy Chimp – The Last Great Ape, in the depths of the Congo rainforest. When you look into their eyes you know instinctively that they are our closest living relatives. The real privilege was to get to know them and their individual personalities.

Regina E. Dugan is the 19th Director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She was appointed to that position on July 20, 2009. She is the first female director of DARPA.

She directed a portfolio of DARPA programs including the Dog’s Nose program, which focused on the development of an advanced, field-portable system for detecting the explosive content of land mines.