VIDEOS: Portia Simpson Miller listed as Time’s 100 Most Influential Persons for 2012.

Jamaica’s first female Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential persons for 2012.

This year’s list includes 38 women, the highest in any year. Among those joining Simpson Miller are fellow Caribbean woman and pop star, Rihanna; singer Adele; Saturday Night Live star Kristen Wiig; US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde; Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her sister, Pippa Middleton.

Time’s 100 Most Influential Persons list is divided into five categories — moguls, breakouts, icons, pioneers and leaders.

Read Congresswoman Yvette Clark’s Time‘s story of Prime Minister Simpson-Miller below:

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller — or Sister P, as I affectionately call her — is the embodiment of perseverance and strength. She will have a profound impact as she strives to be a transformational figure in Jamaica.

Portia, 66, started her career as a public servant in local government in 1974. Two years later she was elected to the Jamaican Parliament.

In 2006 she made history, becoming the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of Jamaica. She was re-elected in December 2011. While she has worked for many years as a public servant representing all Jamaicans, there is a great sense that her leadership will expand far beyond her island nation. In addition to her call this year to break with the British monarchy and make the island a republic, Portia is promoting full civil rights for gays and lesbians, a courageous move in a country with a violent history of homophobia.

I can say from personal experience that her presence is already inspiring a new generation of women, particularly from the Caribbean diaspora, to get involved in public service and to make a difference. Sister P is a woman to watch.

Congrats Madame Prime Minister.