Maria Shriver has worn many hats over the course of her 69 years—Peabody-winning journalist, former First Lady of California, best-selling author, media mogul, and most recently, founder of a brain health snack company.
Now, she adds another title to her résumé: honoree on the 2025 Forbes and Know Your Value “50 Over 50” U.S. list, which was released on Wednesday and celebrates women who are rewriting the rules and making their biggest impact after the age of 50.
For Shriver, this honor is more than recognition—it’s a reflection of the decades she’s spent reshaping the national conversation around women’s health, aging, and purpose. “You just need one person to come along and go, ‘I hear you, I get you, I see you. Let me go with you,’” she told Forbes’ Maggie McGrath. “And then all of a sudden you have the beginnings of a movement.”
A movement is exactly what she built with the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM), which she founded in 2011 after her father, Sargent Shriver, was diagnosed with the disease. At the time, women were largely absent from the Alzheimer’s narrative—even though two-thirds of those diagnosed were women. “There was no research into women’s brains,” Shriver explained. “So we launched an organization to fund that research and to change the story.”
Her vision paid off. WAM has since become part of the Cleveland Clinic and secured $8 million in the last year alone to advance women-specific Alzheimer’s prevention research. “When you have a whisper that something’s not right—go after that,” she said.
Shriver is also using entrepreneurial tools to push that mission forward. In 2020, she and her son Patrick co-founded Mosh, a brain-healthy protein bar company. Its first full year in market yielded $4 million in sales. “Everybody told me I was crazy,” Shriver recalled. “They said, ‘No one wants to eat for their brain.’ But I believed in it. My son said, ‘Bet on yourself, Mommy.’ So I did.”
Beyond advocacy and entrepreneurship, Shriver is redefining storytelling. Through her Open Field publishing imprint, she uplifts diverse voices—especially those of women changemakers. “There are so many people who have books in them,” she said. “I wanted to publish people whose voices I admired, who could ignite change.”
Her 2024 book “I am Maria,” sheds light on the inner struggles behind her public accomplishments. “I was terrified of not being able to live up to my family’s legacy,” she admitted in the interview. But she believes vulnerability and leadership go hand in hand. “We want leaders who ask themselves, ‘Am I being a good enough mother? Am I on a path of my own?’ That’s being alive in your life.”
Asked what she’d tell younger women worried about their trajectory, Shriver’s answer was simple: “My 60s were my best decade yet. Life opens up after 50. It’s never too late to live the life you imagined—or the life you never imagined.”