Susan notes: Amina Az Zubair is one of 15 amazing women who spoke at TED 2011. We're working hard to get TED to work harder on gender parity.  ADD YOUR VOICE HERE.

Amina Az Zubair is the senior special assistant to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She is charged with the coordination of the achievement of the MDGs in Nigeria through the establishment and implementation of a Virtual Poverty Fund.

Her position requires her to advice on pertinent issues regarding poverty, macro economic issues and sustainable development.

Sonia Johnson (born February 27, 1936) is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church; see also Mormon), of which she was a member, against the proposed amendment.

She eventually was excommunicated from the church for her activities. She went on to publish several radical feminist books and become a popular feminist speaker.

Sonia Ann Harris, born in Malad, Idaho, was a fifth-generation Mormon. She attended Utah State University and married Rick Johnson following graduation.

She earned a Master's degree and a Doctor of Education from Rutgers College. She was employed as a part-time teacher of English in universities both in the United States and abroad, following her husband to new places of employment.

She had four children during these years. They returned to the United States in 1976.

Gro Harlem Brundtland (born Gro Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health.

She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway (1981, 1986-89, 1990-96), and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization.

She now serves as a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In 2008 she became the recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture.

Born in Oslo as a daughter of Gudmund Harlem, Brundtland was educated as a Medical Doctor (cand.med.) at the University of Oslo in 1963, and Master of Public Health at Harvard University in 1965.

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone; August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur.

Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance.

After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983.

She followed it with a series of albums in which she found immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV.

Sweet Honey in the Rock is an internationally renowned all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble.

They are an American Grammy Award-winning (and many times nominated) troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience.

They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony with a sixth member translating with sign language.

Although the members have changed over 3 decades, they continue to sing and have helped to produce several children's records as well as those intended for adults.