“Incredible WOMEN: A Celebration of the Women Who Inspired Us This Year,” Porter

One Year Stronger: For 2018’s Incredible Women list, (Porter Magazine’s) fourth annual celebration of the women who have inspired and empowered us over the last year, there was one indisputable starting point, and not only because it marked the beginning of our 12-month period. Last October, the #MeToo movement erupted when revelations of sexual misconduct in the film, fashion and other industries broke. It was a reckoning that shook the world and shifted the culture, and has remained the backdrop to every discussion. It also inspired the theme of this year’s list: One Year Stronger. For in the wake of those revelations, women have stood up and spoken out – whether on sexual abuse, women’s rights, gun control or equal pay – in an unprecedented show of unity and intent, and come through looking, feeling and being stronger than ever.

Alongside the countless game-changers and groundbreakers featured in these pages, we are also honoring those Voices that made the world stop and listen . . .

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Riders for Inclusion

“I have two words for you: inclusion rider,” said Frances McDormand at the end of her Oscar acceptance speech. It was a blazing endorsement of a legal template co-authored by founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California DR STACY SMITH (US), lawyer KALPANA KOTAGAL (US) 40, and producer/actress FANSHEN COX DiGIOVANNI (US), 48, which is making waves in Hollywood.

The rider enables directors and stars to add a clause to their contract – for example that women, people of color or from the LGBTQ+ community be considered for roles or crew – to ensure diversity off-screen and on, so “[the roles in the film] reflect the world in which we actually live,” says Smith.

Access the Porter Magazine 2018 Incredible Women list, featuring Kalpana Kotagal and the Inclusion Rider team here.