Angelina Jolie
by Shelby Dawe
Backround.
Ever since joining forces with the UN'S refugee agency in 2001, she's undertaken 50 field missions to countries including Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. She decided to explain her preemptive double mastectomy in a "New York Times" Editorial, by taking a public stand. "Angelina Jolie represents a new type of leadership in the 21st century," said by the U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague, who has worked with Angelina on efforts to end a plague of rape in war-torn regions. "Her strength lies in the fact that she is able to influence governments and move public opinion at the same time." That Angelina chooses to use her global influence to highlight neglected human rights and humanitarian issues, adds Hague, "is in keeping with the finest traditions of leadership."