Published by By Mack Gelber on Monster.

You may not have realized it—since it’s not marked on the calendar—but Wednesday, August 26 was Women’s Equality Day, which serves to commemorate the date (August 26, 1920) when women in the United States were granted the right to vote.
While it would be an understatement to say that women have made tremendous strides in the workplace since the days of Susan B. Anthony, we still have a long, long way to go. Women still only make 77 cents for every $1 a man makes—a stat President Obama highlighted in his State of the Union this year. And the average woman will come up $430,000 short over the whole of her career compared to her male counterparts. Meanwhile, while women are now more frequently in leadership positions, they still make up only 5% percent of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in the United States, according to Pew Research Center.
As we look ahead to what still needs to be done, we can also celebrate some of the women who are currently helping get us toward workplace equality. These five should get you inspired:
Sheryl Sandberg
Who she is: COO, Facebook
What she’s done: Sandberg’s bestselling first book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, is so iconic that its title became a saying unto itself—the “lean in moment,” in which women take charge of their careers and begin to realize their true potential as leaders. Her Ban Bossy campaign sought to shift our perspective of powerful female professionals and foster ambition in young women. Another campaign, called Lean In Together, brought men into the fold, arguing that female empowerment in the workplace isn’t just good for women–it’s good for everyone.
Tina Fey
Who she is: Creator, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
What she’s done: Fey’s run as a writer, producer, and entertainer is already legendary; along with Shondha Rimes, she’s one of television’s few female auteurs. Nearly everything she touches, from her memoir Bossypants to her appearance on Inside Amy Schumer, engages on some level with gender roles and the disparities that go along with them. You might not have realized it, but when you watch 30 Rock (a workplace comedy if there ever was one), you’re getting schooled in gender equality. And in scenes like this, Fey proved herself unafraid to explore issues of sexism in the workplace–with a touch so light and so sneaky, you almost don’t notice how it cuts right to the bone.
Sallie Krawcheck
Who she is: CEO, Ellevate Network and previously CEO of Bank of America
What she’s done: Krawcheck founded Ellevate, a network where female professionals can connect and help each other achieve their goals. That simple idea that the professional world needs women forms the core of Krawcheck’s message, which has a (slightly depressing) way of sounding revolutionary.
Ursula Burns
Who she is: CEO, Xerox
What she’s done: Burns is the first black woman to serve as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She’s also been a powerful advocate for women interested in careers in STEM fields (Burns has a master’s in mechanical engineering) and has positioned herself as an enemy of complacency. “My impatience stems from the desire to provide everyone in the world with the opportunities that I have had,” she told Triple Pundit. “The world is getting better but not fast enough.”
Sara Blakely
Who she is: Founder, Spanx
What she’s done: According to Forbes, Blakely—the founder and sole owner of shapewear company Spanx—is the youngest self-made billionaire. If there’s some irony in the fact that an inspiration for female leaders made her fortune on what’s been described as a “21st-century girdle,” Blakely herself does much to dismiss that. “While many of the world’s natural resources are being depleted, one is waiting to be unleashed—women,” she wrote in a letter in which she pledged to give at least half of her wealth to charity. Her Sara Blakely Foundation has already donated more than $20 million to charities that empower underserved women.