New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is but one of the many women leaders stretching the bounds of ingenuity and determination to save lives. While others were focused solely on the pandemic, women leaders took the initiative to set up maternal centers at COVID-19 points of care, minimizing infant mortality. Throughout the pandemic, women have shattered the myth that strategies based on compassion and consensus-building are weak and ineffectual. Adaptable and sensitive to the demands of the moment, women leaders have used these qualities to build unity and support for life-saving behaviors. Rather than being defeated by the double standards held against us, women leaders have remained humble, diligent, and collegial.
