Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes had an incredible year of content creation, and of course, she crushed it with the release of the wildly binge-worthy series Inventing Anna, Bridgerton season 2, and the announcement of two more Netflix projects: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story and The Residence. Her long-running television series, Grey’s Anatomy, continues to produce compelling storylines, even after 400 episodes. Along with Rhimes’ 9-figure deal with Netflix in 2021, she made sure to include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the mix. It was announced this year that Shondaland and Netlfix will launch The Producers Inclusion Initiative and The Ladder. Both programs will create paid, hands-on opportunities in the film industry for people in marginalized and underrepresented communities. Rhimes has also been incredibly vocal about human rights issues: in 2022 she was one of hundreds of female tv writers pushing networks to protect their employees in anti-abortion states. Her final salvo: when it was announced that Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter was complete, she was one of the first to leave, fearing the app would be overrun with harmful users. And there's no doubt that she took thousands of her Gladiators with her.