What woman inspires you right now? That’s the question we posed to a few founding members in the Women Leading Travel & Hospitality community. Along with multiple votes for the late and great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, read on for the inspirational women they named. The common thread? All of these figures have demonstrated passion, empathy, honesty and leadership in their own authentic ways.

Jacinda Ardern

“Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand. She is paving the way for not just women leaders, but all leaders. She’s leading with grace, humility and integrity, and she’s doing it all with a baby. Talk about superwoman.” — Kimberly Perkins, founder and president, Aviation for Humanity

Maya Angelou

“Maya Angelou is a constant, a person who is just inspirational. And her inspiration … will go on forever. She had a strength, and she could articulate very well true feelings and honesty and transparency and how you need to show up as a person.” — Joy-Lynn Tyler, vice president of Total Rewards and HIPAA privacy officer, Extended Stay

Neha Parikh

“Well, she was my boss who kind of got me into this role; her name is Neha Parikh. She’s fabulous, and she’s been with Expedia Group for many, many years and recently took some time off. But she’s climbed the ranks from someone who was on the product team to now leading companies within Expedia Group. Her thoughtfulness and the way she looks at leading companies from the people side to what makes a company unique — and how to bring that all together — is something that I try to do as a leader.” — Melissa Postier, director of brand, PR and social, Hotwire

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“My mom every day, but in the media AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. I think she really kind of came out and made a statement for women leading … and she’s really spoke up about what she’s faced.” — Cara Gresser, manager of global brand content, Four Seasons

Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres

“I’ve always admired Oprah’s career. I was in journalism; she was in broadcast journalism as a television reporter and then obviously made the flip into this media conglomerate that she now runs. She wasn’t appreciated early in her career, but she continued to perfect her craft, be very proud of what she was doing, and found a way. The other one is similar: Ellen DeGeneres. I’ve always admired her chutzpah. When I talk about how women need to have a voice and not be afraid to share it, she absolutely falls into that category of someone who took great risks early in her career to be her true self.” — Linda Rutherford, senior vice president and chief communications officer, Southwest Airlines