Amy McGrath, Former U.S. Marine, Congressional Candidate in Kentucky

Why She's a MAKER: Amy McGrath doesn’t shy away from a challenge. She joined the U.S. Marine Corps because “it was the toughest thing a woman could do in the military and that’s exactly what I wanted.” She pursued a career as a fighter jet pilot, the ""most intense job you can do on the planet."" And now she's campaigning to become the first woman representative of Kentucky's 6th congressional district. “Is it going to be easy? No—and I love that.”

Love At First Flight: At age 12, McGrath decided she wanted to be a military pilot only to discover there was a federal law prohibiting women from flying fighter planes in combat. Undeterred, she started a letter-writing campaign to the Armed Services Committee and members of Congress. ""You're a girl,"" one congressman wrote back, ""and Congress doesn't believe that women should be doing these things."" But McGrath refused to back down. ""They just haven't met me yet,"" she told herself. ""I can do this."" The combat exclusion law was repealed in 1993 and, in 1997, McGrath graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Wonder Woman: During her time serving in Afghanistan, McGrath received looks of ""wonder"" from those abroad who had never come across a female soldier, let alone one so respected. ""When you go to these other countries, especially as a woman, and you're just doing your job, that's showing people American values. That's changing minds.""

Help Her Help You: McGrath retired from the Marine Corps in 2017 and on May 22, 2018, she’s running in the Democratic primary for Kentucky's 6th congressional district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “We have all these former military women running for Congress [because] we see what’s happening in our government. We’re basically saying, ‘I fought for my country and I’m not going to stand for that,’” says McGrath. “I don't want to be there just to fill a seat. I want to make a difference.""

Update: Amy McGrath lost her bid for Congress during the 2018 midterm elections.