100 Women We Love, Queer Women We Love, Wonder Women

100 Women We Love 2012

June 15, 2012
“Knowing that my election showed Charlotteans and the world that we are not bound by discrimination wakes me every morning with pride,” proclaims LaWana Mayfield, the City Council representative for District 3 in Charlotte, NC, and the city’s first openly gay elected official. Last November, she trounced her Republican opponent in the council election with 78 percent of the vote, replacing an eight-year incumbent. Now, continuously building on her 15 years of activism, her other leadership posts include the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee, Mecklenburg County Development Corp. Board, Smart Start Board and the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund Board of Advisors. Prior to the election, Mayfield took an active role in LGBT activism as the Human Rights Campaign’s Diversity Co-Chair. “I believe that my role, along with growing the City of Charlotte, is to open the door for LGBTQ dialogue and to create pathways to service. I have this amazing opportunity to help direct the growth of the City of Charlotte through my vote,” Mayfield says. “I am right where I am supposed to be, and I love my job!”

Drum roll, please! We’re excited to present this year’s 100 Women We Love—our most diverse group of out entertainers, artists, athletes, activists, business principals and elected officials yet. Each of these women is a superstar in her own right. Their achievements and contributions shape our lives —and elevate us in the eyes of the world . They’re working to raise LGBT awareness, increase our visibility and quicken our progress toward a just society.

We are extremely proud to present the class of 2012. There are no rankings or numbers. They are all leaders.

Michelle Knudsen
“It’s so satisfying when I get to call a young writer or director and tell them they sold their first script or got their first job. I love finding new talent and helping them achieve their goals. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that,” says Michelle Knudsen, a manager and producer with MXN Entertainment, who works closely with literary manager and Academy Award-nominated producer Mason Novick. Knudsen began her career with feature literary agent Sarah Self at The Gersh Agency in New York, representing star screenwriters like Diablo Cody. Knudsen later moved to L.A., where her eye for addictive storytelling led her to her next dream job–working with Novick on the 2009 hit (500) Days of Summer. In the four years since transitioning to management at MXN, she’s grown her own list of screenwriter and director clients and has several films on the front burner. Knudsen is a co-producer on the Warner Bros project Hidden, a horror-thriller; with Novick, she’s a co-producer on The Beard, written by Becca Greene and starring Reese Witherspoon; and coming soon is the directorial debut of Diablo Cody featuring Julianne Hough, Russell Brand and Octavia Spencer.

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