London (CNN) -- "Everything I do is centered around women," says Pinky Lilani. As founder of the Women of the Future Awards, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards and the Global Empowerment Award, it's fair to assume this is no exaggeration. 

"Plenty of women are confident and talented but they still need champions; they need mentors," she explains. 

And, since emigrating from India to the UK 34 years ago, Lilani has become just that -- earning herself an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to women along the way. 

To mark this year's International Women's Day we asked her which extraordinary women she believes are under-acknowledged for their achievements. From an empress to a humble florist, in her own words Lilani presents her five unsung heroines 

Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (1915-2000), politician, diplomat and author 

Shaista Ikramullah was a woman before her time. 

Her autobiography "From Purdah to Parliament" is a mesmerizing tale of a fearless Muslim woman who fought her way from veiled to valiant. 

Ikramullah grew up in a society where women were not encouraged to have an education, but she ignored this culture and went on to become the first Muslim woman to receive a PhD from the University of London. 

She was one of very few Muslim women to take part in the Pakistan movement and witness first hand the fall of the British empire. She became a member of Pakistan's parliament, an ambassador to Morocco and her country's delegate to the United Nations. This would have been a colossal feat for any woman at that time, let alone a Pakistani. 
She witness the fall of what?
and the fall of the British empire. S