In a world changing fast, travel remains both respite and lens. This Power List spotlights 16 women—athletes, chefs, filmmakers, hoteliers, activists, designers, and adventurers—whose work is reshaping how we move, who gets to tell the stories of places, and what travel can mean in 2026.
Susie Wolff
A former F1 test driver and team principal in Formula E, Wolff is now managing director of F1 Academy, the all-women series cultivating drivers with aspirations for Formula 1. She champions meritocracy—“once the helmet is on, the visor goes down, talent should matter”—and has shifted the series toward long-term talent pipelines and fan engagement that demystifies motorsport for young women.
Fatmata Binta
An award-winning chef based in Accra, Binta channels her Fulani heritage into Dine on the Mat, a traveling pop-up that centers communal dining, Indigenous ingredients, and storytelling. Named FAO Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa in 2026, she advocates for climate-resilient grains like fonio and supports women farmers through the Fonio Heritage Village and education programs.
Brenna Huckaby
Team USA snowboarder and Paralympic gold medalist, Huckaby has turned elite sport into a platform for visibility and inclusion for disabled athletes. After contesting classification rules to secure events for SB-LL1 athletes, she continues to fight for representation, using snowboarding to model resilience, confidence, and expanded opportunity for future generations.
Cherien Dabis
The Palestinian American filmmaker behind the Oscar-shortlisted All That’s Left of You, Dabis explores displacement, intergenerational trauma, and joy as resistance. Forced to relocate production after October 7, she rebuilt sets across Cyprus, Greece, and Jordan, proving adaptability while insisting on stories that center Palestinian experiences and bordered lives.
Lissy Urteaga
Cofounder of Delfin Amazon Cruises—the only locally owned luxury cruise line in the Peruvian Amazon—Urteaga has built a model that treats the forest as partner. Delfin sources guides and craftspeople locally, supports artisan markets and reforestation projects, and designs ships and cuisine that reflect Shipibo and Amazonian traditions while investing in community livelihoods.
Martha Stewart
The entrepreneur and lifestyle icon continues to fuse travel and taste, saying curiosity and exposure to new places fuel her work. A Netflix documentary revived interest in her career for new audiences, led to a reissue of Entertaining, and accompanies expansion in hospitality, including a new Bedford restaurant that brings her seasonal, farm-forward approach to travelers and diners.
Sasha DiGiulian
A leading rock climber and multiple-time U.S. champion, DiGiulian made climbing history as the first woman to ascend Yosemite’s Platinum Wall. Known for numerous first female ascents worldwide, she treats climbing as a passport to remote landscapes and aims to inspire other women by showing how one achievement can have a snowball effect for the sport.
Muna Haddad
Founder of Jordan-based Baraka Destinations, Haddad builds community-led tourism that returns value and storytelling power to locals. Projects like Beit al Baraka transform short stopovers into multiday cultural exchanges, keep 73% of revenue within partner communities, and transfer ownership to local micro-entrepreneurs, addressing tourism leakage and centering authentic narratives.
Maggie Kang
Korean Canadian filmmaker Maggie Kang created the global phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters, a film deeply rooted in Korean culture that became Netflix’s most-watched title. Beyond streaming numbers, Kang measures success by local resonance—many Koreans report renewed cultural pride—and by how the film has broadened global audiences’ fluency in Korean music, fashion, and folklore.
Katarina Barruk
A singer from northern Sweden, Barruk performs exclusively in Ume Sámi, a critically endangered dialect, using music—and the joik tradition—to preserve language and cultural memory. With performances from festival stages to concert halls, she urges respectful travel to Sápmi and highlights how art can sustain Indigenous tongues against the odds.
Napheesa Collier
WNBA star Napheesa Collier co-founded Unrivaled, a three-on-three women’s basketball league that has turned Miami into a sports-tourism destination. With higher pay, entertainment-first arenas, and major investor backing, Unrivaled demonstrates new economic models for women’s sports and creates livelihoods that let athletes choose their careers without repeatedly playing abroad.
Emilie Stordalen
As owner of Strawberry, one of the Nordics’ largest hospitality groups, Stordalen prioritizes worker well-being and community responsibility amid tourism change. She’s implementing mental-health initiatives, in-person dialogue, and training to make hospitality a sustainable career for Gen Z while balancing growth across hundreds of properties and partnerships.
Louise Erdrich
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Louise Erdrich uses Birchbark Books and Native Arts in Minneapolis as a community anchor and distribution point for Indigenous literature and art. Her longtime curation of Native voices and public commitment to her city create a safe cultural space where reading, conversation, and resilience flourish amid local crises.
Eva zu Beck
Adventure YouTuber and National Geographic host Eva zu Beck documents solo expeditions that span the Sahara, Arctic Lapland, and ultramarathon routes, advocating for radical independence and outdoor confidence. Her memoir The Wilder Way aims to equip women with the tools and mindset to pursue less-trodden journeys and to redefine narratives of coming-into-self through solitude and travel.
Anna Lambe
Inuit actor Anna Lambe stars in North of North, the first major TV production filmed in the Arctic, shot in her hometown of Iqaluit. She uses the platform to present contemporary Inuit life—its traditions, challenges, and community resilience—and to call for visitors to approach the Arctic with awareness of Indigenous sovereignty and the impacts of tourism.
Sarah Dusek
After founding Under Canvas, Dusek returned to Southern Africa to invest in women-led ventures and launch Few & Far, a regenerative travel brand. Few & Far Luvhondo in South Africa prioritizes local staff, invasive-plant materials, rewilding, and community partnerships, while Enygma Ventures funds women entrepreneurs addressing systemic challenges with sustainable businesses.
Their projects share a through line: travel can be joyful, restorative, and a way to redistribute power—toward local communities, toward underrepresented voices, and toward sustainable futures. These 16 women are shaping the places we visit and the reasons we go, proving that curiosity, care, and creativity remain essential guides for travel in 2026.
