Inspiring personalities

Ms Nancy Pelosi was born on 26 March 1940 in Baltimore. She was the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives, making history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to hold the post. In January 2019, she made history again by being elected for a second term. Nancy Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress for 36 years. Currently representing California’s 11th Congressional District, she fights for citizens to cut costs, raise wages and create jobs. She is the architect of landmark legislation for a generation, including the «Affordable Care Act» and the «American bailout plan», and defends democracy at home and abroad. Married to Paul Pelosi, she is the proud mother of five children and grandmother of ten grandchildren.

Born on 8 October 1983, Ms Oleksandra Matviichuk is a human rights defender working on human rights issues in Ukraine and the OSCE region. She currently heads the human rights organisation, the Centre for Civil Liberties, and also coordinates the work of the Euromaidan SOS initiative group. After the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Oleksandra Matviichuk set up the «Putin Tribunal» initiative to document international crimes in Ukraine under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In 2016, she received the OSCE Democracy Defender Award. In 2017, she became the first woman to participate in Stanford University’s Ukrainian Emerging Leaders programme. In 2022, Oleksandra Matviichuk received the Right Livelihood Award and was recognised as one of the 25 most influential women in the world by the Financial Times. That same year, the Centre for Civil Liberties, which she heads, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.