GQ and Editorial Intelligence's 100 Most Connected Women 2014 | British GQ (original) (raw)

Last month, GQ brought you the 100 Most Connected Men in Britain - our annual PowerList made possible by the knowledge-networking business Editorial Intelligence, in association with Jaguar. It ruffled a few feathers (as all lists must) but it also introduced a new benchmark for those wanting to understand how the power to influence is truly disseminated - through the careful application of "soft power" rather than the hard sell of "top-down" influence.

On International Women's Day however, we wanted to remind you of the brilliant and dynamic figures who graced our list of the 100 Most Connected Women in Britain last December.

Compiled with the continued support of Jaguar and the help once again of EI's founder and CEO, Julia Hobsbawm, we created the first comprehensive list of the strategically aligned, socially embedded and beyond-the-call-of-duty, public-spirited women who currently define the age of interdependence.

The categories explained:

Connector

An enabler. They introduce others, they are "helpers" and "givers".

Influencer

They are widely admired and followed. Sports stars, media big-hitters and cultural figureheads.

Campaigner & change agent

They champion causes to help others without a voice.

Creative collaborator

A cornerstone of connectivity: cross-platform collaboration and creative daring.

Spider

Agents, leaders, spokespeople - they operate in more than one sector.

**Leader **

Apparent from their front and centre position in organisations.

They have profile as well as purpose.

The contributors: Dylan Jones, Julia Hobsbawm, Bill Prince, Daisy Goodwin, Howell James, Matt Hobbs, Geraldine Sharpe-Newington, Oli Barrett, Steve Moore, Ravi Mattu. Edited by Julia Hobsbawm.

Politics, public spirit, public life & the law

Theresa May

Home Secretary, 58.

Influencer, Spider.

Twitter: @ukhomeoffice

Getty Images

Cara Delevingne

Model, socialite, 22

Influencer

Twitter: @ Caradelevigne

With nearly seven million Instagram followers, she's the model of the moment.

An it-girl with looks and personality to match, she has upended the reticent model trope.

The face of countless campaigns, she's also dabbled in music and film.

Stella Creasy MP

Labour MP for Walthamstow, 37

Campaigner and Change Agent, Connector

Twitter: @stellacreasy

The only Labour front bencher to make the list.

Elected as MP for Walthamstow in 2010 at just 33.

She single-handedly ran the campaign to cap the costs charged by payday loan companies, using her 50,000 Twitter followers to highlight the problem.

Shadow misister for competition and consumer affairs.

Baroness Prashar CBE

Deputy chair, British Council, 66

Campaigner and Change Agent, Spider

Moving to the UK from Kenya during the Forties, Usha Prashar has been at the heart of UK's public life for decades.

Her career has been and remains dedicated to championing equality of opportunity and eliminating elitism.

As the inaugural civil service commissioner, she oversaw the appointment of senior civil servants and from 2006 those in the judiciary.

Her position on the yet-to-be-published Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war has the potential to be her most controversial.

Ann Sindall

Executive assistant to Boris Johnson, 56

Connector, spider

Twitter: @AnnSindall

Sindall has been the gatekeeper to Boris Johnson since his time at the Spectator.

One of two women who runs the Mayor of London's life (the other being his wife, Marina) she is notoriously no-nonsense in brokering access to her boss.

Reverend Lucy Winkett

Rector of St James's Piccadilly, 46

Leader

She is tipped to be the first female bishop.

She caused a stir when she was made female Canon Precentor of St Paul's Cathedral, before being appointed Rector of St James's Piccadilly.

Provides many moments of spiritual contemplation during her theology slot on Radio 4's "Thought For The Day".

Esther McVey MP

Minister for employment and Conservative MP for Wirral West, 47

Influencer

Twitter: @EstherMcVeyMP

Feminist, television presenter, businesswoman and one of the stars of David Cameron's recent ministerial reshuffle, McVey is not your typical Tory MP.

A law graduate, she became a household name at GMTV, where she launched a 14-year career in the media.

Credited with funding the biggest businesswoman's network in the North West.

She became Conservative MP for Wirral West in 2010 and has climbed rapidly through the ranks of the Conservative Party, becoming Iain Duncan Smith's No2 at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Amal Alamuddin

Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers, 36

Campaigner & Change Agent

Twitter: @AmalAlamuddin

A specialist in international and criminal law, human rights and extradition.

Alamuddin's clients have included Julian Assange and former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

She was appointed advisor to Kofi Annan on Syria by the UN and acted as counsel to the 2013 drone inquiry.

Also married to George Clooney.

Baroness Shackleton

Solicitor, 58

Influencer, Spider

Fiona Shackleton LVO is a divorce lawyer to the stars having represented the likes of Prince Charles, Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna and Nigella Lawson.

Benenden-educated, discreet, charming and clever.

Alison Saunders CBE

Director of public prosecutions, 53

Campaigner & Change Agent

Alison Saunders has been involved in some of the most high-profile legal cases in the UK, including the retrial of the Stephen Lawrence murder case and the conviction of the killer of Sarah Payne.

Her work on cases arising from the 2011 London riots were part of the reason she was appointed a CBE in 2013's New Year's honours list.

As DPP she also brought the UK's first prosecution for female genital mutilation earlier this year and successfully prosecuted Max Clifford on charges arising from the Operation Yewtree investigation into historic sex abuse.

Rex Features

Jemima Khan

Journalist, activist and socialite, 40

Campaigner & Change Agent, Connector, Influencer

Twitter: @Jemima_Khan

Khan is an activist, an associate editor of the

New Statesman as well as European editor-at-large of

Vanity Fair.

She brings glamour and celebrity to politics, whether campaigning for her brother, Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, or inviting A-list friends Bella Freud, Bianca Jagger and Laura Bailey to screenings of America's Drone Wars, a documentary she executive-produced.

Baroness Lawrence OBE

Life peer; founder, the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, 61

Campaigner & Change Agent

She spent decades bringing the killers of her teenage son Stephen to justice which has won the admiration of a generation.

Awarded an OBE in 2003 for community relations and made a life peer in 2013

Campaigned for policing reforms and set up the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to encourage young people from ethnic minorities to realise their ambitions.

She sits on Home Office and Police Service panels and works with Liberty and Stop Hate UK.

Baroness Kidron OBE

Filmmaker, life peer, 53

Connector, Creative Collaborator

Beeban Kidron's directorial portfolio ranges from mainstream blockbusters such as Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason and Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit to documentaries on sexual exploitation, Sex, Death And The Gods, and the internet's effect on teenagers,

InRealLife.

She launched iRights - a European coalition to protect children from the excesses of the internet.

She is also co-founder of FilmClub, an educational charity aimed at transforming the lives of young people through film.

Rex Features

Her Majesty the Queen

Head of State of the UK and Commonwealth, 88

Influencer

Twitter: @BritishMonarchy

Her Majesty the Queen has reigned over the UK and Commonwealth for more than six decades.

She has only very recently begun to reduce her public engagements in order to let the younger generation get a look-in, while preparing for the inevitable handover to her son and heir.

PA Photos

Baroness Kennedy QC

Barrister, life peer 64

Campaigner & Change Agent, Connector, Spider

Helena Kennedy is a distinguished barrister, human-rights and civil-liberties campaigner, broadcaster and academic who holds a host of public positions.

Born into a working-class Glaswegian family, she is one of Britain's most successful polymaths, recently adding to her roster the role of Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford.

Camila Batmanghelidjh CBE

Founder, Kids Company, 51

Campaigner & Change Agent

Twitter: @KidsCompanyUK

Camila Batmanghelidjh is Britain's most colourful and inspirational charity leader.

Born in Tehran into an affluent family, she set up the charity Kids Company in 1996 to support emotionally damaged children and has raised £50 million since it began.

Justine Simons

Head of cultural policy, Mayor of London's Office, 43

Connector, Creative Collaborator *

Having spent close to 12 years in the mayor's office, Justine Simons' longevity is itself a great achievement.

She was instrumental in the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

She is also the force behind the World Cities Culture Forum, which brings together key policy makers and influencers to champion culture in our cities.

Media, academia and publishing

Katie Grand

Editor-in-chief, Love magazine, stylist, consultant, 43

Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @kegrand

One of the world's most influential stylists and trend-setters.

Plied her talents in numerous guises as editor, brand and advertising consultant and, more recently, film director.

After graduating from Central Saint Martins, she founded Dazed And Confused with her then boyfriend, the photographer Rankin.

Later brought on board to help steer youth-culture bibles The Face and Pop, Grand continues to pioneer avant-garde style in her current role at

Love.

Mary-Kay Wilmers

Editor, London Review Of Books, 76

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @marykaywilmers

Mary-Kay Wilmers is a formidable force in the publishing world.

Under her 22-year editorship, the London Review Of Books has an influence equivalent to the New Yorker.

She partly funds the LRB through her family trust.

Helen Boaden

Director, BBC Radio, 58

Connector, Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Helen Boaden is a doyenne of broadcasting, her remit includes responsibility for some of the jewels in the British media crown.

Boaden became the first female head of current affairs in 1998 before climbing to director of BBC News by 2004.

Caroline Daniel

Editor, the Financial Times Weekend, 43

Spider, Connector

Twitter: @carolinefdaniel

The FT Weekend has become a sophisticated smorgasbord of analysis, entertainment and comment under Caroline Daniel's direction.

Early in her career she worked in politics as a researcher for Gordon Brown when he was chancellor.

A quiet and assiduous networker, she occasionally does the big interviews herself, filled with vivid detail and a modest personal touch.

Jess Search

Chief executive, Britdoc, 45

Creative Collaborator, Connector, Influencer

Twitter: @jesssearch

Founder of The Britdoc Foundation, responsible for finding funding for documentaries such as Dirty Wars, Pussy Riot, Ping Pong and The End Of The Line.

She is a board member of the think tank IPPR and holds an MBA from Cass Business School.

Isabel Hardman

Assistant editor, Spectator; host, Radio 4's

The Week In Westminster, 28

Influencer

Twitter: @IsabelHardman

As one of the presenters of Radio 4's The Week In Westminster, Isabel Hardman has become the political pundit of choice, delivering highly succinct analysis and holding her own against politicians twice her age.

She has been working in journalism ever since gaining a first at university.

Alexandra Shulman OBE

Editor-in-chief, British Vogue, 56

Creative Collaborator, Spider

Twitter: @AShulman2

At the helm of British Vogue since 1992, the publication has a million readers thanks to her magazine's blend of high fashion, high-street style and often edgy journalism.

One of the earliest adopters of online in the magazine industry, she branched out successfully into events in 2012 with the Vogue Festival.

Her novel, Can We Still Be Friends?, was well received and she is likely to continue editing and writing.

She is still one of the key voices in British fashion.

Cilla Snowball CBE

Group chairman and group CEO, AMV BBDO, 56

Connector, Influencer

Heading up the largest agency in the UK, part of Omnicom's massive BBDO global network, Cilla Snowball is the most powerful woman in British advertising.

She oversees campaigns for brands such as BT, Walkers, Guinness and Starbucks.

She is backing women, where possible, either from her vantage point on the Women's Business Council, or as a dedicated mentor.

Rachel Johnson

Journalist and author, 49

Spider

Twitter: @RachelSJohnson

Her impervious, self-deprecating wit and drive keeps the tomboy sister of Boris Johnson at the top of her game, writing columns for the Mail On Sunday, making forays into television, and being on every panel wishlist going.

Elisabeth Murdoch

Founder and chairman, Shine, 46

Creative Collaborator, Spider

After selling her company to her father, Elisabeth Murdoch showed the same creative and entrepreneurial spirit that ensures her family connections run second to her own vision and flair.

Shine is one of the UK's top independent film and television companies, producer of popular UK shows such as

MasterChef and Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge.

She also sits on the board of directors of the UK Film Council and is a trustee of the Tate.

Sarah Vine

Columnist, 47

Influencer

Twitter: @SarahVine

After the surprise demotion of her husband, Michael Gove, from the Cabinet this summer to chief whip, Sarah Vine tweeted her 11,000 followers with the menacing, "A shabby day's work which Cameron will live to regret."

She is a strong woman in a strong position.

She writes a column in the Daily Mail, has a contacts book stuffed full of journalists and politicians and a health and beauty site, Get The Gloss.

India Knight

Sunday Times columnist and novelist, 48

Influencer

Twitter: @indiaknight

Whether sharing her thoughts in her Sunday Times column or to her 111,000+ Twitter followers and readers of her novels, which have been translated into 28 languages, India Knight is an editorial empress.

Rex Features

Rebekah Brooks

Unemployed, 46

Spider

After 138 days at the Old Bailey Rebekah Brooks was acquitted of all charges relating to phone-hacking at News International and remains, at the time of writing, an example of the power of networks.

Until her fall from grace Brooks undertook a relentless climb to the top of the Establishment, but did so on her own merit: no silver spoon, just hard graft and a hefty dose of mesmerising charisma.

Caitlin Moran

Writer, 39

Campaigner & Change Agent, Influencer

Twitter: @caitlinmoran

A working-class woman from Wolverhampton, who write a successful weekly Times columns.

Author of How To Be A Woman which became first a bestseller and then an A-Level set text.

In 2013 she won a record four awards at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards.

Tessa Ross CBE

Chief executive of the National Theatre, 53

Connector, Spider

As the former controller of film and drama at Channel 4, Ross played a key role in keeping British film at the top of the global market, securing funding and production for legions of British filmmakers and earning her a 2013 Bafta for outstanding British contribution to cinema.

She was responsible for British greats including Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave and Danny Boyle's

Slumdog Millionaire.

The National Theatre could barely conceal its delight when it was announced that she will shepherd in its next era as Rupert Norris takes over from Sir Nicholas Hytner in 2015 as artistic director.

Sarah Sands

Editor, London Evening Standard, 53

Connector, influencer

Twitter: @sandsstandard

Sarah Sands has turned the Evening Standard into a paper with almost the same influence as a national.

Sands stayed loyal to Charles Saatchi when the whole world called for his head after the collapse of his marriage to Nigella Lawson, and she introduced an annual 1,000 Most Influential Londoners list. With nearly 30 years in journalism under her belt, Sands has created a paper that is cosmopolitan and crusading.

Claudia Winkleman

TV and radio personality and co-presenter, Strictly Come Dancing, 42

Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @ClaudiaWinkle

Claudia Winkleman is TV royalty, with impeccable movie connections thanks to her role presenting the BBC's Film 2014, her time as a Golden Globes and Academy Awards host for Sky and film-producer husband Kris Thykier.

A former print journalist - her mum is one-time tabloid editor Eve Pollard - she is never off the small screen as co-presenter of Strictly Come Dancing.

Lynda Gratton

Professor of management practice, London Business School, 59

Connector, Creative Collaborator, Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @lyndagratton

Lynda Gratton is one of Britain's most distinguished academics

At the London Business School she directs "Human Resource Strategy In Transforming Organisations".

Her eight books have been translated into more than 15 languages, and in 2012 The Shift received a best business book of the year award in Japan.

In 2013 she was awarded the lifetime achievement award by HR Magazine.

Rona Fairhead CBE

Chairman of the BBC Trust, 53

Influencer, Connector, Creative Collaborator

Twitter: @lyndagratton

Rona Fairhead is the first woman to be appointed as head of the BBC Trust.

She has been described by culture secretary Sajid Javid as "an exceptional individual with a highly impressive career history".

As a board member of both HSBC and PepsiCo, and former chief executive of the Financial Times, Fairhead has an outstanding corporate portfolio.

Art, culture, fashion & food

Andrea Wong

President, International Production for Sony Pictures Television and President of International, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 46

Creative Collaborator, Spider

Andrea Wong's degree at MIT was in electrical engineering, and she remains involved with MIT Media Lab as well as being a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Her day job is as Sony's most powerful media representative in the movie and TV business based in London, where she uses her experience as a former CEO of Lifetime Networks to oversee production companies around the world and to network for the brightest and best talent.

Alexandra Pringle

Group editor-in-chief, Bloomsbury, 61

Connector, Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @AlexandraPring

Alexandra Pringle has been at the helm of Bloomsbury Publishing group since 1999.

Julia Roberts played her author Elisabeth Gilbert's character in the movie Eat, Pray, Love, which came after Pringle discovered and championed the book.

She presides over a list of nonfiction biggies and travels around the world finding fresh talent and bringing her authors to festivals such as Jaipur and Hay.

Nicky Carter

Artist, 45

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Nicky Carter is one half of the married couple and artistic duo Rob and Nick Carter.

Well-known for their ground-breaking work - which blurs the lines between painting, sculpture, installation and digital imagery - Carter is also a "Groucho Girl", having started as receptionist at the famous Soho club, where she is now the curator of its art collection pulling in works from the likes of Mark Quinn and Damien Hirst.

She also co-hosts the annual Frieze afterparty at the club with managing director Matthew Hobbs.

Rex Features

Meera Syal MBE

Writer, actress, comedian, 53

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Meera Syal is a doyenne of British Indian comedy, best known for her role in radio TV sketch show

Goodness Gracious Me, which she co-wrote and starred in, and as the grandmother in The Kumars At No. 42.

A woman who graduated with a double first, she is a peerless writer, too. Her award-winning novel, Anita And Me, was added to the GCSE English syllabus earlier this year.

Julia Peyton-Jones OBE

Co-director of the Serpentine Galleries, London, 62

Connector, Creative Collaborator

Co-director of the Serpentine Galleries with Hans-Ulrich Obrist.

She raised the bar by placing British art galleries at the cutting edge of where philanthropy meets creativity.

Rex Features

Anna Wintour

Editor-in-chief, American Vogue, 64

Influencer

Anna Wintour's appointment as the inaugural artistic director of publishing empire Condé Nast has firmly cemented her position as one the most powerful figures in fashion.

Commenting on her promotion, Wintour notes it's "like being a one-person consulting firm."

Rex Features

Iwona Blazwick OBE

Director, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 58

Connector, Creative Collaborator

The Whitechapel Gallery which hosted the Nordic Baltic Summit in 2011 was created by Iwona Blazwick.

She is the chair of the London Cultural Strategy Group and the MaxMara Art Prize For Women

Jane Lawson

Director of development, the Victoria & Albert Museum, 53

Connector, Spider

Jane Lawson has overseen raising more than £160m of funds to sustain and redevelop the V&A Museum.

Managing the membership programme, private donations and co-ordinating the application of grants from charitable trusts and foundations, Lawson operates in a hyper-social role where social connectivity is indispensable.

She is also a trustee of Chelsea And Westminster Health Charity, and has helped enormously with London Collections:

Men.

Rex Features

Gizzi Erskine

Chef and food writer, 35

Creative Collaborator, Influencer|

Twitter: @GizziErskine

A professional body piercer turned chef, Gizzi Erskine's sartorial style features on magazine pages almost as often as her food. Her career in TV started with the Channel 4 show

Cook Yourself Thin and she has appeared on a number of other shows for the channel since, as well as for Sky Living.

Erskine is also a prolific food writer, including a weekly column for the Sunday Times Magazine.

Caroline Rush

Chief executive, British Fashion Council, 43

Connector, Influencer

Twitter: @rushcaroline

At the helm of the British Fashion Council since 2009, Caroline Rush has attracted key brands and designers back to Britain.

She expanded the London Show Rooms and Style Suites, taking British designers to new major international markets.

Rush also helped create Britain's only biannual menswear showcase, London Collections: Men. As a member of the London Cultural Strategy Group, she helps promote London as a world-class city of culture.

Rex Features

Tracey Emin CBE

Artist, 51

Influencer

Tracey Emin's Turner Prize-nominated "My Bed" (1998), recently re-sold at auction for £2.2m and is now on long loan to The Tate.

The controversial piece, which features used condoms and blood-stained knickers, placed Emin at the forefront of British art and made her a symbol of feminism.

In 2011 she was made professor of drawing at the Royal Academy, one of the first female professors since the Academy's founding in 1768.

Catherine Goodman

Artist, 53

Creative Collaborator

Twitter: @goodman_studio

Catherine Goodman LVO won the Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1987 and the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2002 for a painting that became a Royal Mail stamp in 2006.

She co-founded The Prince's Drawing School in 2000.

Her recent show of portraits included novelist Daisy Goodwin and the film director Stephen Frears; its opening was attended by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Susie Orbach

Psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer, activist and social critic, 67

Campaigner & change agent, Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @psychoanalysis

Susie Orbach's eleven books, starting with 1978's seminal Fat Is A Feminist Issue, all look at the vexed question of women's attitudes to their bodies, and the relationship they have with the thing they fear and try to control: food.

A practising psychotherapist who counted Princess Diana among her patients, she has consulted for the World Bank, the NHS and the Home Office. Orbach, the mother of two grown-up children, regards herself as "post-heterosexual".

Getty Images

Lily Allen

Singer, 29

Creative Collaborator

Twitter: @lilyallen

An early adopter of social media, Lily Allen shot to fame in 2006 after amassing tens of thousands of MySpace friends who liked the demos and blogs she was uploading.

With almost five million Twitter followers in 2014, social media trends may have moved on, but Allen is still open, outspoken and hugely influential.

Sophie Okonedo OBE

Actress, 46

Creative Collaborator

With a rave review from Barack Obama and a Tony award for her performance in A Raisin In The Sun on Broadway this year, Sophie Okonedo is one of a clutch of black British actors who are making it bigger "over there" than here.

She earned an Oscar nomination for Hotel Rwanda and she is set to star in the new BBC series The Hollow Crown, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.

Rex Features

Lottie Moss

Model, 16

Creative Collaborator

Spotted in 2011, Lottie Moss only had to wait a few months before her first photoshoot with photographer Andrea Carter Bowman which won approval from major fashion agents.

Following her 16th birthday earlier this year, the younger Moss made her modelling debut with an editorial spread in Dazed And Confused. She is now signed to the same agency as her big sis, Storm and was photographed alongside other stellar names in the front row at the Topshop show during London Fashion Week.

Rex Features

Victoria Beckham

Businesswoman and fashion designer, 40

Creative collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @victoriabeckham

From Spice Girl to Wag to acclaimed fashion designer, Posh has defied the sceptics and earned the respect of the fashion world, beating darlings Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Burberry to win Designer Brand Of The Year at the 2011 British Fashion Awards.

She has spun her eponymous clothing line into a business empire, turning over £30m in sales last year.

She is also a patron of The Elton John Aids Foundation.

Anita Zabludowicz

Art collector, philanthropist and gallery owner, 53

Connector, Spider

Twitter: @zab_art

With a collection spanning more than 5,000 works, Anita Zabludowicz is a dedicated art collector and one of Europe's top patrons, championing young emerging talents.

She is also an active philanthropist, supporting a range of artistic establishments and projects, including The Tate.

Jeanette Winterson OBE

Writer, 55

Creative Collaborator, Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @Wintersonworld

Winterson rose to prominence with her prize-winning novel Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. Hammer has bought the film rights to her latest novel and the BBC has asked her to adapt The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase.

Her long-time partner is feminist campaigner Susie Orbach.

Esther Freud

Novelist, 51

Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @estherfreudrite

Esther Freud is one of the most acclaimed novelists of her generation (her semi-autobiographical debut,

Hideous Kinky, was made into a film starring Kate Winslet).

Her novels have been translated into 13 languages.

Her eighth novel, Mr Mac And Me, looks set to be the literary darling of the autumn.

Anya Hindmarch MBE

Accessories designer, 46

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @anyahindmarch

From just one store in 1993, Anya Hindmarch has opened more than 50 retail outlets across nine countries, and rising.

Hindmarch was the woman behind the headline-hitting "I'm not a plastic bag" project.

Awarded an MBE in 2009 for services to the fashion industry, Hindmarch also serves as a board member, governor and trustee for a range of trusts and cultural institutions, including the Design Museum, and as a UK Trade Ambassador.

Jude Kelly OBE

Artistic director, South Bank Centre, 60

Connector, Creative Collaborator

Twitter: @JudeKellySBC

Jude Kelly is an award-winning theatre director, who has overseen more than 100 productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and English National Opera, while her hugely successful annual feminist festival, Women Of The World (WOW), has gone global.

Ella Weston

Director of Stream, 28

Connector, Creative Collaborator

Twitter: @ellaweston

Described in the Huffington Post as an "omnipresent superwoman", Ella Weston is the director of Stream, the WPP "un-conference" series, and a founder of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers network.

Weston is also co-founder of Girls In Tech London, part of a global network aimed at giving women in technology a platform.

She was a judge for Virgin Media Business' 2014 quest to find "Three New Things" that will help change the way we live and work.

Rex Features

Laura Bailey

Model, cultural ambassador, British Fashion Council; contributing editor, British Vogue, 42

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @laurabailey_uk

Part socialite and occasional journalist - contributing to a range of heavyweights including

L'officiel and the Independent - Laura Bailey has also produced and starred in a short film, Je T'Écoute, with friend Bella Freud.

Bailey has used her connections to campaign for a range of philanthropic causes including Oxfam and Comic Relief.

PRs, agents & producers

Lucy Worsley

Historian, TV presenter; chief curator, Historic Royal Palaces, 40

Influencer

Twitter: @Lucy_Worsley

Responsible for Kensington Palace, the Tower Of London, Kew Palace, Banqueting House in Whitehall and Hampton Court Palace

Worsley has also found time to write ten titles and present 16 TV programmes.

Zaha Hadid DBE

Architect, 63

Influencer

The first woman to receive her industry's "Oscar", the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Zaha Hadid is the world's most famous and notoriously formidable female architect.

Born in Baghdad and educated in the UK and Beirut, she trained at the radical Architectural Association in London, before going on to establish her eponymous firm in 1980, a practice that has since handled more than 950 projects in 44 countries, including the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics.

Stella McCartney OBE

Fashion designer, 43

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @StellaMcCartney

Beginning her career at Chloé, Stella McCartney launched her own fashion house in 2001 and now has 33 stores across the world with collections distributed in more than 50 countries.

A lifelong vegetarian, her clothes mirror her ethics, using only non-animal-derived materials. Some of her best successes have been through her collaborations, including the appointment as Team GB's creative director for the 2012 Olympics.

Rex Features

Sam Taylor-Johnson OBE

Conceptual artist and director, 47

Creative collaborator, Influencer

The surprise choice to direct the film adaption of Fifty Shades Of Grey, Sam Taylor-Johnson has made the transition from visual artist to mainstream film director, creating a mix of high-profile collaborative projects in between: opera shorts with Sky Arts, a music video with REM and a German dance track produced by the Pet Shop Boys.

Once married to gallerist Jay Jopling, Taylor-Johnson made headlines when she married young actor Aaron Johnson. She had their first child aged 42 after overcoming cancer twice.

Sonia Friedman

Producer, 49

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

The 2014 Olivier Awards cemented Sonia Friedman's status as one of the most powerful and influential producers in British theatre when her production company won the most awards of any producer, as well as Best New Play, Best New Musical, Best Play Revival and Best Musical Revival.

Having led more than 130 new productions, and with Tony and Olivier Awards to her name, Friedman has been described as a "peerless powerhouse" of the theatre.

Camilla Lowther

Founder, Camilla Lowther Management, 55

Spider

Camilla Lowther's eponymous transatlantic talent agency, now in its 30th year, represents many of the fashion industry's most in-demand creatives, from stylists, photographers and set designers to hair and make-up teams, including Katie Grand and Nicola Formichetti.

Rex Features

Sally Osman

Director Royal Communications, 55

Connector, Spider

Twitter: @SallyOsman

Sally Osman is the inaugural head of communications for the Royal Family.

Osman is one of the most gifted corporate communicators of her generation and it is to the Royal Household's credit that it has seen this.

The BBC has struggled to manage its reputation through a series of crises since she left her role as director of communications.

A keen culture vulture, Osman is seen at every interesting media gathering, all the while watching her bosses' backs.

Jane Boardman

CEO and founder Talk PR, 53

Connector, Spider

Twitter: @hjaneboardman

Having worked in consumer PR for more than 25 years, Jane Boardman has established a vast network of connections, predominantly in fashion, beauty and luxury, and her firm has an enviable roster of clients: Procter & Gamble, British Fashion Council and American Express.

She founded the BFC Bazaar Fashion Arts Foundation and in 2011 launched offshoot Talk Talent which supports new talent in PR and fashion.

She has just launched Talk Content.

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Sofia Davis

Founder, One For The Boys; founder and CEO Soujar, 35

Campaigner & Change Agent, Spider

A close friend of Samuel L Jackson, Sofia Davis produces the charity campaigns with which he is associated, including the annual Shooting Stars Benefit, a charity celebrity golf tournament. Davis is also the dynamo behind the cancer charity One For The Boys, which seeks to challenge the stigma and ignorance surrounding male cancer.

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Caroline Michel

CEO, Peters Fraser and Dunlop, 54

Connector, Spider

Caroline Michel has steered the literary careers and broadcasting interests of some heavyweight names in culture and the media, including Jeanette Winterson, Simon Schama and Bear Grylls.

Michel is also a trustee of the Hay Literary Festival and Somerset House Trust, a Fellow of the RSA and sits on the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Of The Year Award committee.

Christiana Marran

Managing director EMEA, Credit Suisse, 47

Connector

American Christiana Marran joined Credit Suisse from Standard Chartered as head of communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), becoming managing director earlier this year.

Fiona McMorrough

CEO and founder, FMcM, 50

Spider

Twitter: @fionafmcm

Heading up an award-winning communications consultancy specialising in literature and the arts, Fiona McMorrough has an extensive network of contacts in publishing and the arts, having worked with cultural keystones including Margaret Atwood, Philip Pullman, The Folio Society, the British Council and Hay Festival Of Literature And The Arts.

She was awarded the inaugural Hospital Award in 2007 for her contribution to book publishing.

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Sarah Montague

Presenter of Radio 4's Today programme, 48

Influencer

Twitter: @Sarah_Montague

Often heard alongside BBC Radio 4's Today programme co-presenter Mishal Husain, Sarah Montague has audibly toughened up her lines of questioning to her seven million listeners.

With a background in business, Montague worked her way up through Reuters and Sky News before becoming the first voice on BBC News 24, and doing stints presenting Newsnight, BBC Breakfast News and BBC Hardtalk.

Business, technology & philanthropy

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Tara Bernerd

Founder, Tara Bernerd & Partners, 43

Creative Collaborator, Influencer

Twitter: @TaraBernerd

Head of one of Britain's leading design firms, Tara Bernerd & Partners.

Making her mark in London with much success in the commercial and residential sectors, and branching out internationally when the recession hit, she is notoriously hard to book by individuals.

Her projects have included the Heron Tower's Club House, but also the Center Parcs' Treehouses.

Nicola Mendelsohn

Vice-president EMEA, Facebook, 43

Campaigner & Change Agent, Leader

Twitter: @nicolamen

Nicola Mendelsohn had a meteoric rise through the ranks of advertising, proving herself one of the biggest winners of new business ever seen in the industry.

Her appointment to Facebook, as a European not an American, was a major coup.

She advocates flexible working and supports the idea that women need to find everyday work-life balance in their jobs.

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Bindi Karia

Vice president, Silicon Valley Bank, 42

Connector, Influencer

Twitter: @bindik

The "queen of start-ups", Bindi Karia made her mark in the tech world as the leader of BizSpark in the UK, effectively the gatekeeper to the Microsoft community.

Karia joined Silicon Valley Bank in 2012 and is in charge of identifying, connecting and supporting entrepreneurs and innovators.

She has won plenty of recognition for her efforts, making the tech power lists of the Guardian, Institute Of Directors and Wired UK, among others.

She's also an active mentor and supporter of many of London's top incubators, including Seedcamp, dubbed the "The X Factor for start-ups".

Heather Rabbatts CBE

Board member, The Football Association, 58

Leader, Spider

Trained as a barrister, Heather Rabbatts was the chief executive of the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Merton, transforming their image from poorly run districts to dynamic and forward-thinking ones.

Later she rose from executive deputy chair of Millwall FC to become the first female director of the FA.

Tanya Burr

Beauty, fashion and lifestyle vlogger, 25

Influencer

Twitter: @TanyaBurr

Tanya Burr made her name and with it an eponymous make-up line by posting beauty tutorials on YouTube.

Attracting more than six million viewers a month, this former make-up-counter girl is now on the front rows of London Fashion Week.

She collaborates with other YouTube personalities, including fiancé Jim Chapman, and has more than 930,000 Twitter followers.

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Vanessa Vallely

Managing director, wearethecity.com, 42

Connector, Spider

Twitter: @WATC_girl

Vanessa Vallely has worked her way up in the City and now runs a series of networks reaching 200,000 women each month online.

Her Network Of Networks includes the heads of women's networks from 70 FTSE companies.

Sherry Coutu CBE

Entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist, 50

Connector, influencer

Twitter: @scoutu

Voted by TechCrunch as the best CEO advisor in Europe, together with Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn she established Silicon Valley Comes To The UK, which fosters relationships between leading entrepreneurs, business people and investors.

Awarded a CBE in 2013 for services to entrepreneurship, she was also among nine industry leaders chosen by the mayor to form the London Tech Ambassadors Group.

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Dr Dambisa Moyo

CEO and Founder, Mildstorm Group, 45

Influencer

Twitter: @dambisamoyo

An internationally renowned economist, Zambian Dr Dambisa Moyo was awarded the 2013 Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award for her work.

An expert on the rise of China and the Asian economies, and the author of three New York Times bestsellers including the controversial Dead Aid.

She sits on a number of boards, including Barclays and SAB-Miller, having proved her mettle early on at Goldman Sachs.

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Heather McGregor

Managing director, Taylor Bennett, 52

Connector, Influencer, Spider

A former stockbroker, current headhunter and famed as TV personality Mrs Moneypenny, the host of Channel 4's Superscrimpers is also a passionate campaigner for women in business.

She helped found the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which puts graduates from ethnic minorities through a training scheme and supports them in getting their first job in communications.

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Hannah Rothschild

Film-maker and writer, 52

Creative Collaborator, Spider

Something of a cultural polymath, Hannah Rothschild produces art, films and a celebrated biography of her great-aunt Nica.

She is now very much involved in running significant parts of the Rothschild empire.

She is co-founder of The Artists On Film Trust and a trustee of the National Gallery, The Tate and Waddesdon Manor.

Her first novel, The Improbability Of Love, is out next year.

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Stevie Spring

Chairman, BBC Children In Need; senior independent director, Engine Group, 56

Connector, Spider

Twitter: @steviespring1

Spring became the first externally appointed chairman of Children In Need in 2008.

Last year it broke all previous fundraising records.

She has spent close to 20 years working in advertising with industry giants Clear Channel, Future Plc and Engine, and has chaired the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards for two years running.

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Dido Harding

CEO, TalkTalk; life peer, 46

Influencer

Heading up one of the largest internet providers in the UK, Dido Harding is using her position to campaign for more inclusive and safer digital connectivity, and was involved in founding Internet Matters, a not-for-profit that encourages industry players, policy makers and parents to collaborate in creating a safer internet.

Harding has recently been appointed to the House of Lords.

Jan Hall OBE

Founding partner, JCA Group, 57

Connector, Spider

Arguably at the top of the premier league of City headhunters, Jan Hall has been responsible for recruiting a whole host of senior executives for major companies, including Lloyds Bank, Marks & Spencer and Easyjet.

Founded in 2005, JCA Group was a relative newcomer to the headhunting industry, but with Hall's networking capabilities, it is now a leader in the field.

In 1996 she was made an OBE for services to the Department Of Trade And Industry.

Katie Lloyd

Development director, BBC, 34

Connector, Creative Collaborator, Spider

Katie Lloyd helped The Media Trust punch well above its charitable weight for nine years, through her ability to seamlessly operate between the upper echelons of media, business and the nonprofit world.

James Harding has hired her to be part of his team at the BBC, where she will also work closely with director general Tony Hall.

Kathryn Parsons

Co-founder of Decoded, 33

Influencer

Twitter: @KathrynParsons

Kathryn Parsons represents a new wave of socially savvy influencers breaking barriers between business and digital tech.

Professing to teach coding within a day, Decoded has equipped more than 3,000 people and 450 businesses with digital literacy.

She is a powerful advocate for widening the appeal of the tech industry to women and was invited to Downing Street to discuss her campaign to teach children to code.

Rosaleen Blair

Founder and CEO, Alexander Mann Solutions, 48

Connector, Influencer, Leader

Twitter: @RosaleenBlair

Founding her business from scratch, Rosaleen Blair convinced business giants such as Vodafone and Prudential to outsource their recruitment to Alexander Mann, which now has a customer base across 75 countries.

Blair is strongly engaged in charity and government projects.

Blair's business acumen earned her the title of Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman Of The Year 2007 and HRO Today's Global HRO Superstar 2010 and 2014, among others.

Marjorie Scardino DBE

Board member, Twitter, 67

Connector, Influencer, Spider

Twitter: @marjscar

Marjorie Scardino is the first female to run a FTSE 100 - when she joined Pearson, tripled its profits to £942m and introduced the digital transformation which underpins its success today.

She also became the first woman to join the board of Twitter last year.

Scardino is chair of one of the United States' leading charities, the MacArthur Foundation, as well as being a quiet mentor to a number of young women entrepreneurs.

PA Photos

Helena Morrissey CBE

CEO, Newton Investment Management; founder, The 30%

Club, 48

Campaigner & Change Agent, Leader

Twitter: @MorrisseyHelena*

Responsible for £50bn of assets.

Recently announced as the new chairman of the Investment Management Association, the trade body for the £5 trillion UK asset-management industry.

The mother of nine has become the poster woman for the campaign to recruit more female board members, having founded The 30% Club, aiming to ensure that this percentile of British board members are women by 2015.

Pinky Lilani OBE

Founder and chair, Asian Women Of Achievement Awards, 60

Campaigner & Change Agent, connector, Influencer

Pinky Lilani is an associate fellow at Said Business School, Oxford.

She has set up a string of awards to recognise and champion women's achievements, including The Global Empowerment Award, Women Of The Future Awards and the Asian Women Of Achievement Awards.

A self-taught cook, she founded Spice Magic, a company which hosts corporate team-building and has a roster of

­­high-profile clients.

Anne Richards

Global chief investment officer, Aberdeen Asset Management, 50

Campaigner & Change Agent, Connector, Leader

Twitter: @AnneRichards16

Presiding over an investment pot of £342bn, Anne Richards has proved her worth at Aberdeen Asset Management.

An electrical engineer by training, she started her working life as a research fellow at Cern, turning to investment management where she formed networks to foster and nurture female talent.

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Justine Roberts

Founder and chief executive, Mumsnet and Gransnet, 46

Influencer

Twitter: @justine_roberts

Justine Roberts gave up working in the City and journalism in 2000 to set up Mumsnet, an online community for parents, women especially, to connect and pool knowledge.

With 6.8 million monthly unique visitors and 65 million monthly page views, the 2010 general election was known for being the Mumsnet election, so powerful was its constituency.

Health, medicine, wellbeing & sport

PA Photos

Jane Cummings

Chief nursing officer, NHS England, 53

Leader

Twitter: @JaneMCummings

Cummings was voted the 36th most powerful person in NHS England by the Health Service Journal.

She made great inroads in restoring public confidence in nursing after the mid-Staffordshore crisis and is involved in the £100m Nursing Technology Fund to refocus the NHS on patient-led care.

Philippa Perry

Psychotherapist and writer, 56

Influencer

Twitter: @Philippa_Perry

After volunteering with the Samaritans, Philippa Perry trained as a psychotherapist and has worked in the field of mental health for over 20 years.

She has written two books, a graphic novel, Couch Fiction and How To Stay Sane for Alain de Botton's The School Of Life.

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Baroness Grey-Thompson

Paralympian, TV presenter, life peer, 45

Campaigner & Change Agent, Influencer

Twitter: @Tanni_GT

A hugely accomplished athlete, Grey-Thompson won 16 Paralympic medals, including eleven golds, has held more than 30 world records and won the London Marathon six times.

She also sat on various sporting councils and became a familiar face on BBC Wales, BBC One and S4C.

In 2010 she was created a life peer in the House of Lords.

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Judy Murray

Tennis coach, 55

Connector, Influencer

Twitter: @judmoo

Nurturing her sons' talent, Judy Murray drove Andy to success at Wimbledon in 2013 and she is influential in her own right, winning 64 titles in Scotland as a junior and senior in tennis, before segueing into coaching.

In 2011 she captained the British Fed Cup team, which features two of England's key prospects, Laura Robson and Heather Watson, whom she also mentors.

Murray is also a key figure in helping children get into tennis, setting up her Set 4 Sport programme, and was placed 16th in the Guardian's most influential women in British Sport list 2014.

Clare Matterson

Director of culture and society, The Wellcome Trust, 51

Spider

Twitter: @CEMatterson

A director at the world's second-highest-spending charitable foundation, Clare Matterson is a leading voice in engaging the public with science and scientists.

Responsible for the Trust's humanities and social sciences grants, education and communications, as well as the Wellcome Library and Wellcome Collection.

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Jessica Ennis-Hill CBE

Athlete, 28

Influencer

Twitter: @J_Ennis

As the current Olympic heptathlon champion and the nation's "golden girl", Ennis' trophy cabinet is looking healthy enough, but since being thrust into the limelight, it is her ambassadorial qualities that have truly shined.