Ultimately, the staff of Houston Woman Magazine made the final selections from among those nominated. Each one of them was chosen because her sphere of influence was deemed "vast and powerful."

Beverly Denver, editor and publisher of Houston Woman Magazine, said, "When the call for nominations went out, we had a number of people call or email and ask what exactly did we mean by 'most influential.' Many thought we were looking for the most successful women in town or the most well known, for example. We explained that in some cases all might apply, but being 'most influential' (in our opinion) was truly about something else. Simply put, we were looking for women whose actions or thoughts can change the actions or thoughts of others.

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