MAYOR
DENISE SIMMONS
This was the year that Simmons became the first lesbian African-American mayor of Cambridge, Mass.—or any major American city, for that matter. She started out wanting to be a psychotherapist but got involved in politics after realizing that, rather than working with just one person at a time, she wanted to "influence a whole group of people." She'll continue to serve on the city council (in Cambridge, mayors are chosen by council members biennially from among their own ranks) when her two-year term is up in November 2009—and then perhaps she'll be ready to crack some more glass ceilings.