The World's Most Powerful Black Women 2012

President Obama’s wife remains resolute in her mission to end child obesity, inspires awe among global fashionistas for her stylish inclinations and commands media attention for her commitment to military families. And Mrs. Obama remains the President’s most effective campaign weapon. She has made more public appearances this year than usual in support of her husband’s reelection bid, including leading the U.S. Olympic delegation during the opening ceremony in July, serving as a judge during an episode of Bravo’s Top Chef and chatting with the ladies on The View. Results: her positive approval ratings register at 66% while POTUS’s term average has hovered just below 50%. Earlier this year, she authored “American Grown,” a coffee table book about growing veggies and tomatoes on the South Lawn of the White House.

Oprah Winfrey Media Mogul, U.S.A

Last year, Oprah ended The Oprah Show, her highly successful, syndicated talk show, after a 25 year-stint. And she launched her own cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).  Oprah has yet to replicate her magic with her cable TV network. Ratings have been lackluster at best, and the network is struggling with steep financial losses. Silver lining: this year OWN secured a deal with Comcast to earn subscriber fees and increase the number of households that carry it to 83 million. More silver linings: she is still the world’s wealthiest black woman. Estimated net worth: $2.7 billion.

Musician

In January this year, singer Beyonce gave birth to her first child, Blue Ivy Carter, with her husband, Jay-Z. Five months later she hit the stage for “Back to Business”- a sold-out four night performance. Her new album, 4, went platinum in the UundefinedS; it sold 310,000 copies in its first week. Beyonce still rakes in millions from old hits as well as from business ventures such as her clothing line, House of Dereon, and numerous endorsement deals. One of the best-selling musicians of all time, Beyonce has earned 16 Grammy awards to date.

CEO of Xerox, U.S.A

Ursula Burns started her career at Xerox as a summer intern in 1980 and went on to join the company on a fulltime basis one year later after obtaining her Masters’ Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. She became Vice-President in 2000 and was named CEO in 2009. Now in her third year at the helm, Burns is working hard to reframe Xerox as a services business instead of a manufacturer of printers. In 2010, she led the company’s $6.4 billion acquisition of business process outsourcing giant Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). Xerox now gets half of its revenue from service businesses like managing electronic ticket transactions, road tolls and parking meters. This year, Burns spoke against Augusta National Golf Club’s 80 year-old male-only membership policy and threatened to cut off sponsorship of the Masters. In August, the club admitted two women as members, including former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice.

President and CEO, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart Stores

The former executive at Kimberly-Clark joined Wal-Mart in 2006 and served as president of the retail giant’s Eastern U.S. business division. In January Brewer, 49, was appointed president and chief of Sam’s Club, making her the first woman and first African American person to become CEO of a Wal-Mart business. Sam’s Club, a discount membership club, is the 8^th largest retailer in the UundefinedS, with 610 locations and 47 million members. Sam’s contributes as much as 12% of Wal-Mart’s annual revenue. Sales in 2011: $50 billion.

President & CEO, CARE, USA

Gayle, a physician, started off her career at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in 1984 and went on to become the director of the National Center for HIV, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention. She also worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation from 2001 to 2006 where she directed the foundation’s HIV, TB and Reproductive Health Program. In 2006, she became President and Chief Executive Officer of CARE USA, a leading humanitarian organization which actively fights poverty in 87 countries. Last year, during the famine in the Horn of Africa, Dr. Gayle led CARE on the ground to help more than a million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Ertharin Cousin

In April 2012, Cousin, 55, began her tenure as the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organization- a job which entails overseeing a staff strength of some 15,000 people in 78 countries in raising awareness and providing solutions for international struggles with hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. She started her governmental work infer President Clinton, when she served as the White House Liaison to the State Department. She was subsequently appointed to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, and in 2009 President Obama nominated her as the U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

Malawi President Joyce Banda

In April this year Joyce Banda became Malawi’s first female president after the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. The irony: Mutharika and other politicians were not favorably disposed to the idea of Banda succeeding him after his much anticipated retirement in 2012. So far, Banda is proving to be a bit if a revolutionary. As soon as she became president, she sold off the Presidential jet; she now flies commercial. She has also called for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters Malawi and is attempting to revoke Malawian laws which criminalize homosexuality. Banda is the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation International which has guided projects from empowering market women to providing orphans education. Her daughter, Edith Akridge, is Managing Director of the foundation.

Nigeria Finance Minister  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 

In 2011, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a seasoned economist and administrator left her position as a managing director at the World Bank to take up a job as the finance minister of Nigeria at the urging of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. It was her second coming. Between 2003 and 2006 she had served in the same capacity under Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo where she helped secure a debt write-off of $18 billion from Nigeria’s creditors. In April, when the World Bank conducted an 
international search for a new leader, Okonjo-Iweala was short-listed and was generally believed to be the most qualified candidate. The spot eventually went to Obama’s candidate, Jim Yong Kim.

Liberia’s President Ellen Sirleaf

2011 was an eventful year for Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state and Liberia’s President: The Harvard-trained Economist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in atoning for Liberia’s history of civil war, and she was elected to a second term as President during elections in November. She broke a promise she made during her 2005 campaign to serve only for a single term if elected. But few can deny the fact that she has performed reasonably well: She successfully negotiated for debt relief from international creditors, including a $4.9 billion debt waiver from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Maintains zero stance on corruption: In August, she suspended 46 public officials (including her son who is Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia) for failure to declare their assets to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.