Cookie magazine’s May issue celebrates the honorees of the 3rd Annual Smart Cookie Awards, recognizing mothers in the business, philanthropy, and celebrity worlds who are making outstanding contributions to women’s and children’s causes around the globe.

Salma Hayek is Cookie’s cover girl for her work with UNICEF and other celeb winners are Uma Thurman, Debra Messing, and journalist Judy Woodruff.

Says the 42-year-old actress: “I think that in some ways, all women are mothers. It’s in our nature to protect, to nurture, and to feel empathy; this programming just kicks in more strongly when you have children. I used to do a lot of fieldwork on my own, mostly with women who were survivors of domestic abuse in Central America, South America, India, and Africa. That was so amazing, and, yes, I did some good. But after having a baby, I found I became so much more vulnerable — to work on a lot of issues and not see a lot of change can become very depressing. I needed to get involved with something that was tangible, and that we could really stop: I needed the psychological ‘We can do this!’ I started working with UNICEF on raising money for and awareness of the tetanus-vaccination campaign. Tetanus doesn’t really exist in the United States, but it’s still a threat in remote parts of the world, especially to new mothers and infants. By getting the vaccines to these places that need them and by training the locals in how to administer them, we can eliminate tetanus in three to five years. It can be history.”