The Female Lead puts women centre stage

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When data entrepreneur Edwina Dunn set out to explore how we viewed ambition, there were some surprising results. Out of a sample of 2,000 UK adults, 46 per cent claimed they have little or no ambition whatsoever – with 42 per cent agreeing they would even be dissuaded from applying from a job if the word "ambitious" was included in the specification. Overwhelmingly, however, the research revealed that the more ambitious we are, the more likely we are to have been mentored.

This makes her new non-profit initiative The Female Lead, which seeks to tell the stories of inspirational women from around the world, all the more important. Its first major project is a new book and documentary series that highlights 60 remarkable figures at the top of their profession, whether that be famous names of the big screen, leading diplomats, activists and entrepreneurs or those who have broken down barriers in other ways.

The impressive list of those featured showcases the diversity of female achievement. It ranges from the familiar faces of Meryl Streep, model Karlie Kloss, actor and writer Lena Dunham and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour to those behind the camera, such as film director Ava DuVernay and Sheila Nevins, the president of HBO Documentary Films. It features female science and technology pioneers, such as Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code and space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, co-presenter of The Sky at Night; leading figures of the arts, including artistic director of the Southbank Centre Jude Kelly; as well as entrepreneurs such as Jo Malone, who launched a perfume empire from her home kitchen.

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As Streep explains in the book, "It was my imagination that took me out of my circumstances and enabled me to understand the lives of other people in a way I found thrilling… I didn't always want to be an actor. I thought I wanted to be a translator at the UN and help people understand each other. In a way that's what I'm trying to do as an actress – to get deep into someone else's life, to understand what made them feel the way they did and compelled them to move in one direction or the other… what interests me, and what interests the actors I admire most, is to understand something about yourself and other people."

Particularly interesting are the achievements of those who are often not in the limelight. Women such as Brenda Berkman, the first openly gay professional firefighter in the United States and one of the first women to join the profession. "My mother couldn't believe it when I became a firefighter. I'd spent two years in grad school studying history and three years at law school and I was working as an attorney. That's what I gave up to do a job that required just a high-school diploma. At that time, women couldn't even apply (to become firefighters). I lost friends who didn't want to be involved with someone so controversial. But I also made friends. I didn't become a firefighter to win a popularity contest. I did a job I loved for 25 years and I still mentor and advocate for women firefighters. I think I've been blessed."

Each interview is accompanied by a portrait taken by acclaimed French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, whose decades-long career has seen her work for Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, GQ, the New York Times and more, as well as an online video by her sister, documentary film-maker Marian Lacombe. Beyond its general release, 18,000 copies of the book will be distributed in schools across the UK, aiming to inspire a generation of female leaders to come.

The Female Lead is published by Ebury Press, £30; thefemalelead.com. All images © Brigitte Lacombe. The Female Lead is supported by founding partner Investec Private Banking.