Hall of Fame Honorees
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
An economist and international development expert with over 30 years of experience, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director General of the World Trade Organization. She was Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the African Risk Capacity and Co-Chair of The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor at Lazard and sat on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as an AU COVID-19 Special Envoy and WHO COVID-19 Special Envoy.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, the first woman to hold the position, and spent a 25-year career at the World Bank rising to the No.2 position of Managing Director.
In 2020, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was named Forbes African of the Year. She has been ranked by Fortune as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders and by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World consecutively for four years.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
A pediatrician, scientist, activist, and author, Dr. Hanna-Attisha was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and recognized as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century for her role in uncovering the Flint water crisis and leading recovery efforts. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is the author of the widely acclaimed and New York Times 100 most notable book, What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City.
She is the Associate Dean for Public Health and C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She is the founding director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative partnership of MSU and Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint, Michigan.
2023 Women Who Make a Difference
Sylvia Sánchez Alcántara, IWF Mexico
Founder — Retos Femeninos
President — Marketing Lab
Sylvia Sanchez Alcantara is a passionate publicist and public speaker. A specialist in marketing to women, she is the Founder of Retos Femeninos and the President of Marketing Lab. Since 2007, she has organized International Women’s Day events in cities across Mexico. Sylvia chaired the National Advertising Association (Asociación Nacional de la Publicidad — ANP) in Mexico from 1996 to 1998 — the second woman in 100 years to hold the post — and was the first woman to be Vice President of the National Advertising Council. Her book “Retos Femeninos” was published in 2014. Her honors include receiving the Juanita Guerra Medal from Damas Publicistas (1995), being named one of the 15 Marketing Women to Watch in Mexico (Advertising Age and AdLatina — 2016) and being one of the torchbearers at the 2012 Olympics in London. In 2023, she received the Luz Lajous Medal from IWF Mexico.
Rosemary Barkett, IWF Florida
Judge on the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal
Rosemary Barkett is a pioneering and trailblazing jurist. Since 2013, she has served on the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Earlier, she served as both the first woman Justice (1985) and the first woman Chief Justice (1992) on Florida’s Supreme Court. From 1993 to 2013, she served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where she was appointed by President Bill Clinton. In 2015, President Barack Obama appointed her to the Panel of Conciliators for the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. Rosemary has served on the faculty of several institutions and has lectured internationally. Her awards include Honoree of the Year from the National Association of Women Judges (1999), the Prominent Woman in International Law Award from the American Society of International Law (2017) and being inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame (1986).
Aytül Erçil, IWF Turkey
Co-Founder & Co-CEO — Vispera A.S.
Aytül Erçil is one of Turkey’s first high-tech entrepreneurs. She is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Vispera A.Ş. (founded 2014), an image-recognition and analytics company. She had previously co-founded the machine-vision company Vistek (2006) (exited to ISRA Vision AG in 2013) and the internet-of-things company RebusLabs (2003). Aytül is also an academic, with bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Boğaziçi University (1979) and both a master’s (1980) and a doctorate (1983) in Applied Math from Brown University. She is the founding director of both the BUPAM Pattern Analysis and Machine Vision Laboratory at Boğazici University and the VPALAB Computer Vision and Pattern Analysis Laboratory at Sabancı University; she has served on the faculty of both schools. Her honors include the Woman Leader in Information Technologies Award from Microsoft (2017), the Female Entrepreneur of the Year from ANTIKAD (2014) and Turkey's Female Entrepreneur, awarded by Garanti BBVA and KAGİDER (2013).
Esther George, IWF Kansas
Retired President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Esther George served from 2011 to 2023 as President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, where she was known for developing high-performing leaders and employees. Esther spent more than 40 years with the Fed, including serving as Acting Director of Banking Supervision and Regulation in Washington during the Great Financial Crisis (2009). Her success in increasing the participation of women and minorities as host of the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium was referred to as the “Esther Effect” by Bloomberg News. Known for increasing the Bank’s focus on technology, she worked on ensuring a smooth and efficient Fed payment system and led the effort to establish the FedNow Service. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Jeanne Herberger, IWF Arizona
Philanthropist
President, Herberger Enterprises Inc.
Philanthropist & trailblazer Jeanne Herberger has played an instrumental role within IWF, hosting Ellie Guggenheimer in the late 1970’s, which created the Arizona Forum, serving as the first Treasurer of IWF’s former Leadership Foundation and providing the seed money for the Leadership Fellows Program. She is currently the President of Herberger Enterprises Inc. Jeanne has served on the boards of numerous civic and community organizations, including the Frank-Lloyd Wright Foundation, the Phoenix Symphony Association and the Phoenix Symphony Guild, the American Orchestra League Volunteer Council, the Musical Instrument Museum and the Arizona State University’s Foundation. Her honors are numerous and include the Marilyn R. Seymann Award from the Arizona Foundation for Women (2008), being named one of the “48 Most Intriguing Women'' by the Arizona Historical Society (2012) and being an ASU Founders’ Day Honoree (along with her husband, Gary, 2012). Her dedication to helping those in need has led her to contribute housing, employment and education to Ukrainian women and children who have sought sanctuary in America during 2022-2023. She received IWF’s Leading Light Award in 2003.
Florine Mark, IWF Michigan
Wellness Influencer
Former President and CEO — The Weight Watchers Group
Florine Mark is a wellness influencer, author, motivational speaker and podcast host who spent 50 years as the leading franchise holder of Weight Watchers International. Starting in 1966, she built Weight Watchers franchises into a family business, known as The Weight Watchers Group, that eventually stretched across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In 2003, she sold some franchises to Weight Watchers International and her remaining franchises in 2021. Her annual IWF Michigan “Dine-around @ Florine’s” sells out in just hours. She has served on the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School and as Chair of the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Board of Chicago. Some of her honors include being the first woman inducted into the National Management Association’s Hall of Fame (2005) and being named one of the 100 Most Influential Women by Crain’s Detroit Business (1997). Her book “Talk to the Mirror” was published in 2004. She continues to make an impact as a NBC/WDIV TV show host and speaker through her "Remarkable YOU Motivational Tour."
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