Presenting PORTER’s Incredible Women Of 2026
From record-breaking athletes and rule-rewriting musicians to novelists challenging how we view femininity, PORTER’s Incredible Women of 2026 spotlights the voices defining the present – and what is coming next. By NATASHA BIRD
Alice Birch
Few screenwriters interrogate the emotional undercurrents of womanhood with as much nuance as Alice Birch. Whether writing for stage, television or film, Birch has built a body of work that resists grabbing for easy catharsis, instead forcing you to sit with discomfort, desire and the contradictions that women are often expected to gloss over. She co-wrote the critically acclaimed Jennifer Lawrence film Die My Love with Enda Walsh; wrote the screenplay for Florence Pugh’s magnetic turn in Lady Macbeth; lent her wisdom to the TV adaptations of both Normal People and Conversations with Friends; and her plays include the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winning Anatomy of a Suicide. Birch is currently working on her big-screen directorial debut, Sweetsick, starring Cate Blanchett.
Tayari Jones
With her new novel Kin, Tayari Jones once again demonstrates her enormous skill at chronicling contemporary relationships. Kin is her fifth novel, with previous in her canon winning a slew of awards, including The Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019, for An American Marriage. “For me, there has been a direct relationship between success, authenticity and courage,” Jones tells PORTER. “The deeper I venture into the matters of life that make me feel unsure, and even vulnerable, the more powerfully the work seems to connect with readers.” It is this humility and fearlessness that make her voice resonate so profoundly. Kin is published by Oneworld on March 26
Asako Yuzuki
Japanese novelist Asako Yuzuki has emerged as a cutting-edge observer of appetite: literal, emotional and societal. Her novels Butter (2017) and Hooked (2026) explore the pressures placed on women to perform perfection and the quiet rebellions that simmer beneath the surface, with the current of food’s transgressive pleasure running steadily throughout. Yuzuki writes women who are neither saints nor villains, but unsettling, provocative protagonists. Her work speaks to a globally shared experience of expectation and constraint. Proof that literature remains one of the most incisive ways for women to interrogate power. Hooked by Asako Yuzuki will be published in March 2026
Paris Paloma
For Paris Paloma, the last year has been defined by huge growth – her song Labour has become a feminist anthem of our times – and also a reclamation of agency, both political and personal. “My proudest achievement has been becoming a stronger artist on tour,” she tells us. “I used to really shrink from fear, anxiety and OCD, and now, I really feel so much explosive joy and power from being on stage.” That transformation, she explains, is the result of “a lot of inner work and a good therapist,” but also the reward of building “an amazing community that I see and sing with every time I’m on stage.” As she looks to 2026, she’s excited about releasing “my favorite music I’ve ever made so far” – and the chance to bond with more people over art.
Jade
Having stepped daringly into her solo era, Jade has reminded us of Madonna’s principal teaching: that reinvention is an art form. Already known for her chart-topping success as part of one of Britain’s most influential girl groups (Little Mix), she now writes from a place of sharper self-definition. Tracks like Angel of My Dreams and FUFN are adventurous and their videos are visually dazzling. Her recent willingness to experiment beyond pop’s expected formulae shows off her sense of humor, as well as her more serious sense of what it means to be a woman in the current age. This year looks set to cement her position as both solo performer and honest cultural voice.
Chloe Qisha
Chloe Qisha is part of a new wave of artists blurring genre and geography. With a sound that draws on R’n’B, pop and alternative influences, she makes music that feels like an intimate conversation as well as breaking ground. Her rise has been powered as much by cozy connections with her listeners as by volume of streams. Fans of tracks like 21st Century Cool Girl and Modern Romance are drawn to the wisdom of her perspective and the vulnerability threaded through her lyrics.
Frances Haugen
When Frances Haugen stepped forward as the Meta whistleblower who released thousands of documents, purportedly demonstrating that Facebook repeatedly prioritized growth over safety, she reshaped the global conversation about accountability. Four years later, she is making new strides, demanding transparency from the tech giants that continue to expand their reach into our daily lives. Her priority now, she tells PORTER, is helping the public to understand the impact of social media on mental health, and “giving people the opportunity to make real choices about the technology they’re exposed to and how they spend their time.” Her hope for the future is that social media business models will prioritize software that is built healthily, for human beings to actually enjoy.
Luisa Neubauer
As one of Europe’s most prominent climate activists, Luisa Neubauer continues to push for urgency in a moment of escalating environmental crisis. Her proudest achievement of the past year, she says, has been making clear that “hope is action,” reminding us all that in order to move the needle, we actually need to get out there and do something. For Neubauer, women are the future’s architects: “Any solution to any crisis that is shaped without women is very likely to make things worse.” She speaks with the clarity of someone who understands both the science and the stakes, but for whom the glass is always half full: “Even the best mathematicians can’t tell us what the future will be like. The future is not yet decided, so we can make it better.”
Nina Gualinga
As an Indigenous climate leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon, Nina Gualinga draws from her Kichwa heritage, advocating for land rights, environmental justice and the protection of ancestral knowledge. Over the past year, her proudest achievement has been both personal and political: “After very difficult years, finding a space of balance and peace in which I can live and thrive within my territory, community and my own heart has been vital.” And as the year progresses, she will continue “fighting and caring for Mother Nature, from the land that grounds and sustains me.” Alongside her sister Helena, Gualinga has brought global attention to the protection of the Amazon and its peoples, but her focus for 2026 is evolution rather than expansion. She hopes to strengthen those efforts “from a place that is wiser, more intentional, and even more deeply rooted in collective action.”
Faith Kipyegon
As of 2026, Faith Kipyegon is broadly considered to be the greatest middle-distance runner in history. She’s a three-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters, the most decorated women’s middle-distance runner of all time – plus, she broke a world record for the one-mile sprint and then broke her own record again last year. “It has given me a lot of confidence in the way that I approach my sport,” she tells PORTER of success, noting that experience has taught her how her body responds to training and pressure. As both a mother and a role model, her message to young women is clear: “Nobody in life will do it for you. You need to have your own ambition to succeed.” It is a philosophy as potent as her stride.
Doriane Pin
French racing driver Doriane Pin’s appointment as a development driver for Mercedes is history in the making. After winning the world championship title in the women’s F1 Academy feeder series last year, many expected Pin to head off into other racing series, such as Formula E or endurance, as previous champions have – but Mercedes has opted to keep her in its F1 ecosystem. “Becoming a development driver for Mercedes is an incredible honor and a major step forward,” Pin tells PORTER. Being trusted to contribute to Formula One development is no small thing and such moves “change things, not only for yourself, but also for the sport and for diversity,” she says. If even one young girl sees her and thinks, “that could be me one day,” Pin believes that visibility is powerful.
Trinity Rodman
At just 23, Trinity Rodman (daughter of basketball legend Dennis Rodman) is already a defining figure in her own right. As women’s soccer enters what she calls “such a powerful moment,” with another World Cup and the Olympics ahead, Rodman is focused on growth “on and off the field.” Investment in women’s sport, she tells PORTER, is unlocking new possibilities, and she is determined to help push the game forward in America, where she plays for Washington Spirit, and across the globe, as she represents the USA on the national team. Off the pitch, she underscores her athletic ambition with creative energy, leaning into fashion as a form of self-expression: “I love styling myself and experimenting with different looks, using it as a space to be bold, creative and unapologetically myself.”