The World’s Most Powerful Women: July 29

July 29, 2016, 7:13 AM UTC

The Democratic Convention this week featured a parade of speakers who testified to Hillary Clinton’s softer side; her compassion and empathy as a wife, mother, colleague, and friend. But when she stepped to the podium Thursday night to accept her nomination, Clinton, true to form, veered away from the deeply personal and even eschewed the historic nature of the moment in favor of the pragmatic. Her speech made the case that her experience in a series of high-profile government jobs is evidence of her judgement and temperament. That argument is a direct challenge to her opponent Donald Trump, who has no record of governing and who’s proven to be thin-skinned. It was a dicey gamble; an assumption that Americans who desire change will choose results-driven policy proposals over sweeping promises.

To me, her remarks echo what WMPW has written so much about; efforts by companies and individuals to assess people on their qualifications alone, not their gender, their background, or even their names. Judge me on what I’ve done, not who I am.

If only politics—and all of business—worked that way.

Fortune writer Claire Zillman

@clairezillman

(filling in for Laura this week)

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Money does grow on trees
In July 2015, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim became the first female president of the island nation of Mauritius. Now she's trying to grow the country's GDP by capitalizing on its native plant and animal life. "Our biodiversity is a unique treasure,” she says. “It’s time we take advantage of it.”Fortune

Merkel, unmoved

Angela Merkel told reporters Thursday that she's not budging on her welcoming stance toward refugees—despite the two terror attacks by asylum seekers in one week. “For me it is clear: we will stick to our fundamental principles," she said. We'll have to see how this affects her approval ratings that WMPW covered earlier this week.

Wall Street Journal

Selfie solidarity

Men in Iran are posting photos of themselves wearing the hijab in support of women in the country who are forced to cover their heads in public.

The Independent

THE AMERICAS

It's complicated

Clinton's Democratic National Convention this week highlighted her status as a glass ceiling shatterer. But Fortune's Valentina Zarya reports that she hasn't always been so gung-ho about playing her woman card.

Fortune

Jill, not Hill

It may come as a surprise that Clinton is not the only woman in the U.S. presidential race. Third-party candidate Jill Stein, of the Green Party, is trying to capture the legacy of Bernie Sanders' failed campaign and win over his anti-Hillary supporters.

Time

Coffee creativity

Starbucks has named former Under Armour executive Leanne Fremar as its new creative director. The appointment comes a few days after Starbucks reorganized some of its senior leadership roles to focus more on long-term strategy and innovation after an emphasis on digital technology.

Fortune

ASIA-PACIFIC

A prisoner of conscience

Prominent Indian human rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila said this week that she is ending her 15-year hunger strike against a law that shields the armed forces from prosecution. Her fasting has lent credence to critics of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, who say it allows widespread human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings.

New York Times