Lived experience can be a catalyst for creativity. As a young working mother, Roslyn Jaffe sought to create affordable, fashionable shopping options for women “in her shoes.” To meet this need, Jaffe and her husband, Elliot, cofounded Dress Barn (later “Dressbarn”) in 1962. What started as an experiment in an abandoned shoe factory grew into a nationwide phenomenon. Applying her philosophy of turning lemons into lemonade, Jaffe aimed to empower women and girls. Revenue from the store chain enabled Jaffe to help women in other ways, including through the Roslyn S. Jaffe Awards, which honor businesses that support women and children, and through the Jaffe Peace Corps Fellows Program, which supports teachers.
When Mike Wood’s son struggled with phonics, the concerned father and corporate lawyer did not let the toddler fall behind. He developed the LeapPad, a tablet that helped children learn to read, and it became a holiday bestseller. Decades later, Wood used the tablet to teach his granddaughter. Coming of age in Zurich and understanding the importance of art, Koyo Kouoh longed to see African cultural and artistic expression elevated. Through collaboration and institution building, she created the art world she didn’t find elsewhere and went on to become curator and executive director of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA). The first African woman chosen to curate the Venice Biennale, she named the 2026 exhibit In Minor Keys. Likening art to health, she said, “You know its value when you don’t have it anymore.”
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A self-made clothing honcho, a trailblazing female exec, and an enterprising NBA player
A cutting-edge brain researcher, an intrepid investor, and a whimsical ad exec
