Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is again standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s most influential figures, returning to the Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list for the third consecutive year. Ranked No. 99 for 2025, the Barbadian leader secures her place among global heavyweights shaping politics, business, philanthropy, media and culture.
Forbes spotlights Mottley’s sustained global impact, citing her fearless climate advocacy, firm diplomatic hand, and transformational domestic leadership. Since becoming Barbados’ first female prime minister in 2018, Mottley has emerged as one of the most recognisable political voices from the Caribbean, amplified by her unforgettable 2021 UN General Assembly address, where she demanded urgent, equitable climate action for vulnerable nations. Her bold stance earned her the UN Environment Programme’s Champion of the Earth Award that same year.
The publication also highlights her leadership during Barbados’ historic 2021 constitutional shift, which officially transitioned the island into a parliamentary republic and removed the British monarch as head of state. Her continued presence on the Forbes ranking—after similar appearances in 2023 and 2024—signals her deepening influence in global conversations around climate finance, debt reform and development equity, especially for small island states. Her inclusion in TIME magazine’s TIME100 further cements her international resonance.
This year’s Power Women list is led by Ursula von der Leyen, Christine Lagarde, and Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, underscoring the level of leadership Mottley stands alongside. Forbes notes that the women featured collectively hold an estimated US$37 trillion in economic power and shape the lives of more than a billion people worldwide.
From her first ministerial appointment as Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture in 1994 to her status today as one of the Caribbean’s most respected stateswomen, Mia Amor Mottley continues to define what 21st-century leadership looks like. Her latest ranking adds yet another milestone to a political journey that shows no signs of slowing down.
