Assessing global challenges requires thinking about new strategies and mechanisms for international cooperation. This endeavor implies reflecting on domestic sources of global governance such as the role of non-state actors with sufficient will and power to influence global problem-solving processes, involving climate change, poverty, global terrorism, inequality, organized crime, economic crisis, gender violence and urban violence, among other global threats. A focus on women´s leadership and contributions to global problem-solving is thus warranted in order to identify women´s empowerment and influence on global governance.  The general question this special edition seeks to answer is: what difference does it make to have more women in leadership positions in global governance?

• Women´s leadership in NGOs and International Organizations;
• Women diplomats;
• The role of women in epistemic communities;
• Women in academia;
• The role of high-ranking women in multinational corporations;
• Women´s social movements;
• Leadership and women´s empowerment; and
• Political activism.