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!)

Angie Miller is the 2011 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year. She has spent the past year traveling the nation, speaking and collaborating with K-12 teachers and other educational stakeholders.

Miller has been immersed in middle school education for 11 years, which has deeply affected her spelling and humor. In a typical classroom that Miller runs, students develop their voices to make change.

Kate Messner is an award-winning author whose books for kids have been New York Times Notable, Junior Library Guild, IndieBound, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections.

She believes in nature, art, magic, lake monsters, science, and the power of literacy to change the world. She writes books for people who also believe in those things.

Messner's book The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. was the winner of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers.