The first lady is the world’s most powerful black woman. Obama’s wife continually commands media attention for her intense efforts towards ending childhood obesity and has developed a cult-like following among world fashionistas for her stylish inclinations.

In the past year, she has made official and non-official trips to at least four continents, including a visit to South Africa where she was granted a rare audience with former president and Apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

Beyonce Knowles, Entertainer, Designer

Jay-Z’s wife is all grown-up now. She turned 30 this year, and is now taking responsibility for her own business concerns. In March, she relieved her father, Matthew Knowles, as her business manager. She’s earned 16 Grammy awards in her career, runs a fashion label, House of Dereon, and released her fourth solo album, “4”. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 310,000 copies in its first week.

Oprah Winfrey, Media Personality

In May, Oprah bade farewell to her highly successful, syndicated talk show, after a 25 year-stint. She set out to achieve bigger things: In January, she launched her own cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network. It started out strong, but viewership is floundering. Nevertheless, Oprah remains one of the world’s most powerful media moguls: The Oprah brand owns media interests in TV, Radio, the web, and the 2.5 million circulation O Magazine. Oprah is also the world’s wealthiest black woman. Estimated worth: $2.7 billion.

Ursula Burns, CEO, Xerox

First worked for Xerox in 1980 as a summer intern; joined the company full time in 1981 after obtaining her Masters’ Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. Worked through the ranks to become Vice- president in 2000, and was named CEO in 2009. Burns was pivotal in Xerox’s $6.4 billion acquisition of business process outsourcing giant, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) last year. Burns serves on the board of American Express and Boston Scientific among other companies.

Helen Gayle, CEO, CARE USA

Started off her career at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in 1984, eventually became the director of the National Center for HIV, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention. Also served at the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation between 2001 and 2006 where she directed the foundation’s HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program. In 2006, took up the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of CARE USA, a leading humanitarian organization which actively fights global poverty in 87 countries around the world. Top Priority: Empowering girls and women to bring lasting change to poor communities. Gayle serves on the Board of trustees for the Rockefeller foundation.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President, Liberia

The Harvard-trained economist and Africa’s first female president is seeking to be reelected this October during Liberia’s presidential elections, breaking a promise she made during her 2005 campaign to serve only for a single term if elected. But the odds are in her favour: Successfully negotiated for debt relief from international creditors, including a $4.9 billion debt waiver from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian Finance Minister

In July, Okonjo-Iweala stepped down as Managing Director of the World Bank to accept an appointment as Nigeria’s finance minister. This will be the second time she will be in charge of steering the affairs of the Nigerian economy. Between 2003 and 2006 she served in the same capacity during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. She was instrumental in negotiating for, and ultimately achieving, an $18 billion debt write-off from a consortium of Nigerian creditors.

Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO, ArcelorMittal South Africa

Nyembezi-Heita heads the South African operations of the world’s largest steel company, ArcelorMittal. ArcelorMittal South Africa is Africa’s largest producer of steel, with an annual production capacity of 7.8 million tons. She was appointed as CEO in 2008; took up position after managerial stints at Vodacom Group and Alliance Capital Management. Ms Nyembezi-Heita serves as non-executive director on the board of the JSE Securities Exchange.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, CEO Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Harvard grad is the president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, America’s largest health care foundation, with a $10 billion endowment and annual disbursements of $400 million. This year, the foundation is spearheading a campaign against childhood obesity and fighting for tobacco cessation. Lavizzo-Mourey is the first woman and the first African-American to head the foundation. In 1984 she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Joined the foundation in 2001 as senior vice president and director of the health care group; became CEO in 2003.

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First lady Michelle Obama continued to charm Russia on Tuesday, where she and the president attended a graduation ceremony at the New Economic School and a President Medvedev-hosted lunch at the Kremlin. President Obama did a bunch of business as well.

Mrs. Obama wore a black and white dress with a black flower brooch on Tuesday. She had also worn a black and white frock on the Fourth of July, and the same color combination to dinner with the Medvedevs on Monday night.

See the photos of Michelle Obama with Russian First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva, Sasha, Malia and others!

Source

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According to the Telegraph, a UK newspaper, “there will be some questions asked over whether a light, summery colour is disrespectful on a sombre day of remembrance. [British first lady] Sarah Brown stayed with the tradition of sober attire, safely putting her out of the way of fashion attention.”

Never one to shy away from bright colors and eye-catching outfits, Obama probably will catch flack for wearing white. By this time, she’s used to catching as much criticism as she does praise for her often daring fashion choices. It doesn’t stop her from thinking outside of the box when it comes to first lady style. Continue Reading….

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1. What Single Women Can Learn From Michelle Obama

Those of us hoping to find suitable mates in a dating landscape that is, statistically speaking, pretty grave, are absolutely giddy about the very existence of the first family and especially about the possibility that we could find our own Barack.

We’d give up three hair appointments in a row, our designer puppies and that annual tropical vacation with our best grad-school friends to meet a man like him. Brilliant. Confident. Best smile ever. So into his wife. On the cover of April’s issue of Washingtonian magazine, he appears shirtless to illustrate the publication’s No. 2 reason to love D.C. (“Our new neighbor is hot!”) But if we’d first encountered him the way Michelle did, as a regular guy, under the glow of office lights instead of the spotlight, would he have made our lists at all?

In footage that plays when the networks mention how our cool, young, black president shot hoops with his staff and friends on Election Day, Obama is close to gawky in a simple gray T-shirt tucked in just a bit too tightly. Between plays, you notice tapered pants pulled up a little too high. A slightly skinny build. In those few frames, he’s not the hottest guy on the court, let alone in the country. When he appeared as a presidential candidate on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, my initial swoon as he stepped on stage was short-lived. He playfully hip-bumped the host in an overly bouncy dance routine that embarrassed me into looking away. Suddenly, I was watching my boss get down at the company Christmas party or a friend’s dad grooving to Earth, Wind and Fire at her wedding. Not bad. Endearing, even. But “swagga” did not spring to mind. Sure, Obama is a dad and a boss to many . . . but I get the impression he’s been dancing like that his whole life.

I’ve played matchmaker, unsuccessfully, for scores of black professional women. And I’m convinced that Michelle’s got something on many of us. Not her intelligence or her confidence or sense of style, her glowing skin or the carved silhouette of her arms. I could fill a room with friends who have all these qualities to spare. I’m talking about the choices I imagine she made in those crucial moments between meeting Barack and deciding who he would be to her. She must have focused on an abundance of goodness instead of his hint of goofiness and fixated on a warm smile instead of a pair of oversized ears. It’s easy to see now that he was a great catch, but how many of us would have been open to this guy who strayed so far from the black Prince Charming ideal, starting with his very name?

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