Power of Women 2026 has set its presenting lineup and expanded its program beyond its four central honorees, putting entertainment leadership, advocacy and entrepreneurship on the same Beverly Hills stage on Wednesday, September 23.
Jennifer Hudson, Pearlena Igbokwe, Melissa McCarthy and Sharon Stone are the event’s Power of Women honorees. Each honoree is associated with a supported organization: Hudson with The Jennifer Hudson Foundation, Igbokwe with A Better Chance, McCarthy with the Joyful Heart Foundation, and Stone with the American Civil Liberties Union.
The format is built around presenters introducing the honorees, rather than simply treating the evening as a roll call of celebrity names. Channing Dungey will present to Hudson; Queen Latifah will present to Igbokwe; Lauren Graham will present to McCarthy; and Marc Maron will present to Stone. That collection brings together executive leadership, performance, comedy, producing and podcasting—an appropriately broad snapshot of how entertainment influence now works.
The presenter pairings
Dungey is chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group and Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks, and is herself a previous Power of Women honoree. Her role in presenting Hudson makes the connection between the event’s industry-facing mission and its talent-facing spotlight especially clear.
Queen Latifah will introduce Igbokwe, the executive being honored in support of A Better Chance. Graham, an actor, producer and author, will present McCarthy’s recognition. Maron, whose career spans stand-up, acting and podcasting, will present to Stone.
The four recipients represent notably different types of entertainment work. Hudson is an artist, actor and television host with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony wins. Igbokwe is being recognized as a trailblazing executive. McCarthy’s work spans acting, producing and writing, while Stone’s award recognizes both her screen career and global activism. The shared structure is philanthropy, but the professional routes to the stage are deliberately not identical.
More than one kind of recognition
Three additional awards widen the scope of the program.
- Paige DeSorbo will receive the Courage Award, presented by Purina.
- Issa Rae will receive the Entertainment Entrepreneur of the Year Award, presented by U.S. Bank senior executive vice president Courtney Kelso.
- The Jennifer Hudson Show will receive the Changemaker Award, presented by Waymo CMO Suzanne Philion.
These distinctions matter because they separate personal advocacy, business building and platform-driven cultural impact rather than flattening all three into a single definition of accomplishment. In practical terms, the evening’s headline honorees are connected to named causes, while its special awards identify different ways public-facing entertainment careers can exert influence.
Related coverage includes Power of Women 2026 Sets Presenter Lineup, Honors and Normani Performance.
Rae’s entrepreneur award places focus on a creator’s role as a business leader as well as a performer or producer. That distinction is central to the recognition: it is for impact as both an entertainment leader and a successful entrepreneur. Readers looking for more on that angle can find related context in Joking Joystick’s look at Rae’s entrepreneur honor and community-building.
Paige DeSorbo’s Courage Award and the Purple Leash Project
DeSorbo’s award is tied to her advocacy for survivors of abuse. In 2024, she discussed on her podcast surviving an abusive relationship when she was 19, an experience she had kept private for more than a decade. Since sharing that experience, she has used her platform to emphasize that survivors are not alone.
The recognition also draws attention to the role pets can play in helping survivors feel safe and supported. DeSorbo’s relationship with her cat, Daphne, is part of that public message. Molly Sims—an actor, podcast host and founder of YISE Beauty—will present the award.
The program is connected to the Purple Leash Project, a partnership between Purina and nonprofit RedRover. Its stated aim is to help create more safe spaces for domestic-violence survivors and their pets. That is a concrete focus behind the broader language of advocacy: a survivor’s ability to seek safety can be complicated when shelter or housing options do not accommodate animals.
The Jennifer Hudson Show receives the Changemaker Award
The Jennifer Hudson Show will receive the Changemaker Award for using its platform to elevate diverse voices, feature inspiring stories and encourage meaningful conversations. The award’s recipient is a show rather than a single person, which signals an emphasis on what a recurring television platform can do through its guests, stories and audience reach.
Waymo is presenting the award through its “Because” initiative, which focuses on human well-being, road safety and mobility. The initiative also addresses the fatigue and mental burden of constant vigilance while traveling, particularly for women, and frames autonomous transportation as a potentially more secure and empowering means of getting around.
What “changemaker” means here: it is not a technical industry designation. In this program, it describes a platform credited with affecting public conversation and visibility—through who is heard, which stories are foregrounded and how an audience is invited to engage with them.
Normani performs; Iliza Shlesinger hosts
Normani will perform during the event. The multiplatinum recording artist, actor and philanthropist joins a program otherwise driven largely by presentations and awards, providing the evening’s announced musical component.
Iliza Shlesinger will host. Shlesinger’s work spans acting, comedy, writing and authorship; she also stars in Chasing Summer, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. A host has a different responsibility from a presenter: the host guides the room and program as a whole, while presenters anchor individual honorees and awards.
Partners and the event’s wider structure
Lifetime is the presenting partner. Purina and U.S. Bank are premier partners, while Waymo is the official innovation partner. The partner roles line up with several of the special recognitions: Purina is associated with the Courage Award, U.S. Bank with Rae’s entrepreneur award, and Waymo with the Changemaker Award.
The event also spotlights women profiled in an annual Women’s Impact Report, which highlights leaders in entertainment, and its Power of Women honorees will appear on the issue’s cover. In other words, the stage event is one part of a larger editorial and industry-recognition package, not an isolated awards presentation.
Curated gift bags will be given to honorees and guests, with participating companies including BÉIS, YISE Beauty, Goop, Voluspa, Milk Makeup, OSEA, Tarte Cosmetics and ILIA. Those bags are an ancillary event detail rather than an award category, but they underscore the overlap between entertainment, beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands around a major industry gathering.
Why the full lineup is notable
The most useful way to read this year’s program is as a map of several kinds of power: creative achievement, executive leadership, entrepreneurship, advocacy and the ability to shape conversations through a daily television platform. Hudson, Igbokwe, McCarthy and Stone are the core honorees, but DeSorbo, Rae and The Jennifer Hudson Show make the definition broader.
That variety is also reflected in the presenters. A senior television executive, a multi-hyphenate entertainer, an actor-author and a comedian-podcaster each take part. The event’s announced performance and host give the proceedings a traditional entertainment-show framework, while the supported organizations keep the honorees’ causes in view.
For audiences, the important details are straightforward: the event takes place September 23 in Beverly Hills; the honoree-presenter pairings are now known; Normani is scheduled to perform; and the program includes recognition for survivor advocacy, entertainment entrepreneurship and a talk show’s use of its platform.
