Gwent's inspirational women for International Women's Day

Melissa Anderson

Founder of the Valleys Gymnastics Academy, which has grown from fewer than 100 members when it was founded in 2011 to almost 3,000 today. Ms Anderson, who is also an accredited sports coach, gives up more than 70 hours of her time every week to help get children, young people and adults involved in sport.

Christine Baker

Christine Baker works with offenders at HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed. She has worked at Careers Wales for 25 years and has been part of the prison programme for the majority of that time, helping individuals into sustainable employment opportunities and is among three others shortlisted for the Career Development Institute Career Advisor of the Year award this year.

Rachael Barnes

Newport mum and businesswoman, who featured in a book about inspirational women where she talked about the trials and tribulations she's gone through to combine family life with a successful business. Her oldest son Adam stopped talking when he was three, and has devoted her life to helping others like him and doing everything she can to give him the best life she can.

Kellie Beirne

Programme director for the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal. In her role Ms Beirne is responsible for working with the 10 local authorities involved in the scheme to make sure projects are delivered.

Francesca Brooks

Suffered a serious car accident six years ago, which left her unable to walk - and is now a finalist in the Miss Wales 2020 competition. Despite feeling coming back into her leg, she still has prominent scarring and suffers pain in her feet and back everyday but has her sights set on winning Miss Wales 2020.

Jayne Bryant

The Labour AM for Newport West was elected to succeed Dame Rosemary Butler in 2016. She previously worked for Newport West MP Paul Flynn, and chairs the Assembly’s Standards of Conduct Committee.

Dame Rosemary Butler

Served as AM for Newport West from the foundation of the Welsh Assembly in 1999 until 2016, when she retired. She was also the Assembly’s presiding officer from 2011 until her retirement. She was made a Dame in the 2014 New Year Honours for political and public services, particularly to women.

Kelly Davies

A weapon engineer for 12 years in the Royal Navy while running her own beauty business and who is currently a lecturer in engineering at Crosskeys College. She recently spoke at the Torfaen Women in Business Event to celebrate the contribution women make to the business community.

Nicole Garnon

Editor of the South Wales Argus. She first began working at the Argus as a trainee in 1987 before leaving to spend a short time with the Western Mail. Nicole returned in 1989 to be the paper’s health reporter, a role she held for several years before moving on to the Newsdesk as deputy editor before stepping into the editor’s chair in October 2016.

Molly Hucker

At 17 years old Molly Hucker is balancing a busy life doing her A-levels and attending climate change marches across south Wales. After attending her first march in February last year, she has become a fixture of the climate emergency movement in Abergavenny.

Becky James

Cyclist from Abergavenny, who won two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She started her career at the Abergavenny Road Club and represented Wales at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where she won a silver and a bronze medal. She retired in August 2017 to begin a baking business.

Kamila Jarczak

Creator of the Women of Newport exhibition, aimed at celebrating women within the city which made a big impact within the art community. She worked on the project for months, building up a network of people, raising the funds needed and photographing numerous women involved.

Delyth Jewell

Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East, appointed following the death of Steffan Lewis in January 2019. She previously worked for Citizens Advice and the charity ActionAid on issues relating to women’s rights and international development.

Caroline Johnson

Caroline Johnson, founder of the Eden Gate charity since 1990. She was also instrumental in setting up the Newport Night Shelter project in 2008 until both were combined into Eden Gate in 2013. Now of charity Amazing Grace Spaces, over the past year she began a project to offer homeless people emergency accommodation in small pods.

Liz Johnson

The 30-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, has won medals at three consecutive Paralympic Games, winning silver on debut in the 100m breaststroke at Athens in 2004, gold in the 100m breaststroke in Beijing and bronze in the 100m backstroke at London. Ms Johnson, who is from Newport, won four golds and three bronzes at the IPC World Championships in Durban (2006) and Rio (2009). She announced her retirement through injury in 2016.

Pam Kelly

Appointed chief constable of Gwent Police last August. She began her policing career as a volunteer with the Special Constabulary before joining Dyfyd-Powys Police in 1994. Ms Kelly joined Gwent Police as deputy chief constable in 2017.

Professor Julie Lydon

Vice-chancellor of the University of South Wales. In 2014 she was awarded an OBE for services to higher education in Wales.

Mica Moore

Newport-born Olympic bobsleigher and sprinter. She ran for Wales in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and competed in the two-woman bobsleigh event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, coming eighth - the best-ever result by a British women's Olympic bobsleigh team.

Tegan Nox

Bargoed wrestler Steffanie Newell, known by the ring name Tegan Nox, has battled back from two potentially career-ending knee injuries between 2017 and 2019 to continue performing at the highest level - WWE. She is currently performing on NXT and NXT:UK brands.

Janet Martin

The founder and owner of Barnabas Arts House in Pill. She has also converted a derelict Grade II-listed toilet block in Alexandra Road into a theatre – named The Phyllis Maud Performance Space, named after Mrs Martin’s aunt.

Kate Mercer and Sarah Goodey

Both work together and run the annual Art on the Hill festival, encouraging people to explore Newport through the medium of art. Recently they've started a new momentum within Newport's art community thanks to a hashtag aimed at showcasing the work of artists in the area.

Jessica Morden

The Labour MP was first elected for Newport East in 2005 – the first woman to be elected as an MP in south-east Wales. Former general secretary of Welsh Labour, she was key in organising several of the campaigns in the 1997 General Election.

Jane Mudd

Appointed as Newport's council new leader last November, previously a Malpas ward councillor and previously served as cabinet member for regeneration and housing.

Heather Myers

Director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce and former chief executive of the Abergavenny Food Festival.

Judith Paget

Chief executive of the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Has worked for the NHS since 1980 and joined the board in 2009 and was appointed chief executive in 2014.

Hayley Parsons

Founder of price comparison website GoCompare. Born and raised in Cwmbran, she worked for Admiral Group, where she also helped launched price comparison site confused.com, before leaving in 2016 to create GoCompare. She is a key figure in the BeTheSpark movement, which promotes entrepeurship in Wales. In 2012 she received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list for services to the economy.

Alexandria Riley

Newport actress, who has appeared in The Tuckers and In My Skin. Last year she appeared in the short film Mixed, detailing her own experiences of growing up as mixed-race and her struggle to identify her heritage.

Emma Saysell

Chief executive of St David's Hospice Care. She joined the charity in 1994 as a clinical nurse specialist, and was appointed chief executive in 2004. From Chepstow, she was awarded an MBE for services to voluntary sector health provision in Newport in 2014.

Beth Sims

Almost two years after opening her first cake shop in Newport, after working from home, has amassed extraordinary success in the area. On the city’s Church Road, it isn’t uncommon to find queues of hungry customers waiting outside.

Laura Tenison

Founder and owner of national children's clothing and maternity wear chain JoJo Maman Bébé, which is based in Newport. The company was founded as mail order catalogue in 1993 and has gone from strength-to-strength, with stores across the UK and in the USA. Ms Tenison has also worked with charities bringing healthcare, education, clean water and clothes, to communities in Mozambique and Lebanon. In 2003 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for services to business.

June Thomas

After her son Jack died suddenly at 15-years-old, she established a Valleys branch of the UK charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) as well as Jack's Appeal, a campaign to get all secondary schools in Gwent fitted with a defibrillator. In 2017 Ms Thomas, from Oakdale, was presented with a British Empire Medal for her work.

Alison Ward

Chief executive of Torfaen County Borough Council, she started her career as a solicitor and later worked for Neath Port Talbot Council before moving to Torfaen Council in 2002. She was made chief executive two years later. Ms Ward has also mentored young women in the public sector management positions. In 2011 she was awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours list for services to local government.

Baroness Debbie Wilcox

A former school teacher who was first elected as Labour AM for the Gaer on Newport City Council in 2004. She was made the council's leader in May 2016, and later leader of the Welsh Local Government Association - the first woman to serve in either of these roles. She stepped down last year when she was appointed to the House of Lords in Theresa May's resignation honours.

Amy Williams

This Newport mum suffers from a rare form of cancer, Myelofibrosis, and was given a prognosis of just four years. After finding her stem cell match, she is now campaigning for others to come forward and sign up to the UK stem cell registry.

Rachel Williams

Mrs Williams survived being shot at point blank range by her estranged husband at a Newport hair salon in 2011 and has gone on to campaign for more support for victims of domestic violence and abusive relationships.

Shereen Williams

A community activist whose role within local authorities in Newport and Monmouthshire include tackling hate crime, preventing violent extremist and encouraging cohesion in schools and communities.