Power Women

Adrienne E. Adams is the speaker of the New York City Council, leading the most diverse and first women-majority Council in city history as the body’s first African American speaker. She is also the first woman to represent District 28, encompassing the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village, and South Ozone Park. Speaker Adams previously served as chair of the Public Safety Committee and co-chair of the BLAC. Prior to the City Council, she served as chair of Queens Community Board 12 and worked as a corporate trainer.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
Women, particularly women of color, are still paid less than men for equal work. While the City Council has passed a salary transparency law for city employers, more work is required to address pay inequity. Increasing representation in various fields, including government, and at the highest levels is also critical to achieving gender parity. This historic City Council features our city’s first women-majority, which is a major milestone, placing women in some of the most important positions of leadership within the Council.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Lawmakers can support policies, legislation, and investments that support women and families, such as expanding access to affordable child care, creating safer and more equitable workplaces, and preventing gender-based violence. Policymakers can also work together with advocates and experts to identify priorities and needs that require immediate action.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
I would have dinner with Dr. Maya Angelou, who was the keynote speaker at my graduation from Spelman College; Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and to run for president; and Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights leader who organized Freedom Summer in 1964.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
I would tell a younger version of myself to believe in yourself — you are good enough just by being you. Never stop dreaming and BELIEVE in your dreams.

Dr. Kara Ahmed, New York City Department of Education‘s deputy chancellor of early childhood education, is responsible for ensuring high-quality support for the system’s youngest learners, from birth to five years of age. Previously, Dr. Ahmed was the principal for DOE’s LYFE program, which she transformed into a nationally-recognized early childhood model. Prior, Dr. Ahmed was the early childhood supervisor for New Brunswick Public Schools and worked with William Patterson University to support New Jersey DOE’s implementation of statewide preschool. Dr. Ahmed has a doctor of education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
While no country in the world may have more equal access to education for women than the United States, access to equitable and quality educational options at an early age, which impact secondary level education and beyond, continues to be compromised for women of color. Inequitable educational experiences reduce the likeliness of obtaining executive level leadership roles and, ultimately, higher compensation. Ensuring and expecting only superb education and care starting at birth for all children, and prioritizing audacious structural changes to the current education system in communities of color, will foster a path forward inclusive of gender parity.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Listen to women to learn what is important to them, what empowers women to achieve their personal and professional goals, what fosters women’s safety at home and at work, and what supports women’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Use this information to eliminate the obvious and hidden policies that prevent all the above, and be courageous in the fight for policies that ensure sustainable and systemic change for women in the immediate and for generations to come.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
It would be a gift to have my late grandmother Hasina share her story over a dinner full of rich curry spices, shedding light on the incredible human my father was, as he is part of every page of my story.

To talk with Betty Shabazz about her influence on Malcolm X’s thinking, her experience of raising six children after the death of her husband, and her pilgrimage to Mecca, among so many other things, would be a privilege.

Learning firsthand about the leadership experiences of Indira Gandhi, India’s only female prime minister to date, would be invaluable and priceless.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
Let the genuineness of your spirit lead the way, not allowing a minute to be unsettled by unkind words. Your worth and value are not defined by these voices; rather, your hard work, your commitment to what is right, and your love for the world’s goodness will always prevail. Remember that what is in your heart will shine brighter than your weight gains and losses, the many unflattering clothing trends you will wish you could forget, and all the bad haircuts you endured — if only you would just believe it. Be kind to yourself. You deserve nothing less.

Dr. Machelle Allen received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and received her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. She completed her obstetric and gynecology residency at Jacobi Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Allen served as the director of ambulatory obstetrics and gynecology at Bellevue Hospital. She subsequently became associate medical director of Bellevue Hospital. In 2013 she was promoted to deputy CMO of the NYCH+H system, and in 2017 was appointed SVP and CMO of the system.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
Education, exposure, and experience are needed starting at a very young age. Knowledge is the foundation of any achievement. And knowledge can be attained through a number of venues. However, formal superlative education should be available and accessible in our public schools. Exposure to the possibilities — women who are leaders, decision makers, and role models — is necessary. The work place is a competitive place, which requires a strong sense of self. That comes from being given the opportunity to excel, it matters not in what, we all do something well. The challenge is to find that something and highlight it.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
One needs one’s health first and foremost. We all were the product of a birth experience. That experience should be without morbidity or mortality. New York State should reimburse doulas and midwives equitably so that all women have access to all options for a healthy birth experience, without having to pay out of pocket. There is a continuum of needs throughout pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. Pay parity includes all those who attend the birth experience.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Sojourner Truth — for her fierce courage. Ruth Bader Ginsberg — for her wisdom in understanding the power of incremental change. Letitia James — for her fortitude, the strength of her convictions, and most importantly her compassion and the high value she places in the knowledge and experience of the frontline workers. She is for the people and is of the people, truly!

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
Listen and learn. Self advocate. Seek out a mentor. Wisdom comes from experience. And experience comes with mistakes. And someone has already made those mistakes, and has wisdom to impart. Make time for those you love. Because they love you and need to know you love them.

Dr. Katrina Armstrong leads Columbia University’s medical campus as the chief executive officer of CUIMC, which includes the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the School of Nursing, the College of Dental Medicine, and the Mailman School of Public Health. She also is executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences for Columbia University and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Armstrong is an internationally recognized investigator in medical decision making, quality of care, and cancer prevention and outcomes, an award-winning teacher, and a practicing primary care physician.

Khin Mai Aung is New York executive director for Generation Citizen, a youth civic engagement organization. Previously, she was a civil rights lawyer in government and nonprofit settings, including the New York State Education Department, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Youth Leadership Institute, and Asian Law Caucus. After graduating from the UC Berkeley School of Law, she worked as an associate at Morrison and Foerster. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and three children.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
We’ve come a long way in political and public spheres as well as the workplace, but have a long way to go. We need to ensure women — as well as communities of color and other underrepresented groups — have access to pipelines and support in the form of mentorship, networks, and career opportunities. Recently during the pandemic, many women dropped out of the workforce, and others — in particular lower income women in essential jobs — struggled for childcare. Because childcare burdens still fall disproportionately on women, ensuring quality childcare for all is an important element of gender parity.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
As mentioned above, making quality, affordable childcare available for all is a must. It’s also important to create policies that go above and beyond to enable new parents (regardless of gender) to take parental leave. We need to make sure we monitor gender discrimination and representation in the workplace, as well as conduct rigorous enforcement against gender-based discrimination (including protections for both cisgender and transgender women).

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, because she is a badass. I want to pick her brilliant brain and learn how she and Marty navigated dual careers in a different era. Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to integrate a Southern school, who later became a racial justice activist. I’d love to hear about her experiences as a child, and how that led her to become an activist. Kamala Harris, for trailblazing a path to the vice presidency. I’d love to hear what that journey was like not only as a woman, but the first woman of color.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
I would tell myself it’s okay to not have all the answers, and that one’s life trajectory — both personal and professional — should be fluid over time with lived experience. I’m a bit of an impulsive person, and have made a number of major changes in my life which have worked out in the end — leaving my law firm for a low paying public interest job, moving from San Francisco to New York to work for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund — and would reassure myself it’s okay to go with my instinct.

Paula Ávila-Guillen is a Green Wave movement leader, international human rights lawyer, and executive director at the Women’s Equality Center. She has helped lead the fight to decriminalize abortion in her home country of Colombia and has supported the efforts that led to the decriminalization in Argentina and Mexico. Paula has also been one of the leaders in holding El Salvador’s government accountable for the systematic persecution and criminalization of women unjustly sentenced to imprisonment after having suffered obstetric emergencies. Her work has contributed to freeing more than 55 women.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
We need to start supporting women and their choices. Gender parity is strictly connected to bodily autonomy. A fundamental step to achieve gender equality is for women to have the ability to choose when, if, and how they want to have a family and to be fully supported in their decisions. It’s not enough to stay out of our decisions when it comes to motherhood, we need policies that provide us with full support. This begins with access to free and over-the-counter birth control, free abortion care, access to affordable childcare, and an educational system that supports working mothers.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Legislators should not make policies without involving and listening to the people who will be affected by these policies. Real, everyday women should be seated at the tables where decisions are being made. If you want to know what the best policies are for working mothers, ask them. For Latinx women? Ask them. Policies should not be developed in a vacuum. To positively influence public policies, it’s fundamental to have conversations with real everyday people.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Michelle Obama: She is “modern feminism.” Her authenticity is hard to find in a leader at her level. Her ability to be powerful, genuine, and caring at the same time is a challenge for most women in power, but not for Michelle.

Maya Angelou: Her words inspire activists around the world. They have become symbols of beauty and resistance, and mantras for social activists worldwide.

Prudencia Ayala: Her fight for the right to vote as a Salvadoran woman in one of the most hostile environments represents the resistance of the Salvadoran people and has fueled their fight for social justice.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
Trust your instinct. You know more than you think you do. Don’t let others who seem to have better “credentials” intimidate you. Do your work, share your ideas, and do not let others dismiss you because you don’t have the “proper” experience yet. The experience will come, but in the majority of the cases, your experiences will validate your instinct. Your instinct is the most powerful tool you own, so take the time to listen to it, understand it, and make sure to follow it.

Dr. Tarika Barrett is the CEO of Girls Who Code, an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Tarika started her career as an educator and has spent two decades building educational pathways at organizations like iMentor, the New York City Department of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, and NYU’s Center for Research on Teaching and Learning. A graduate of Brooklyn College, Tarika has an M.A. in Deaf Education from Columbia Teachers College and a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from NYU.

Dr. Mary T. Bassett brings over 30 years of experience promoting health equity to the position of Department of Health commissioner. Commissioner Bassett most recently held the position of director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. She also previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she worked to reduce health disparities between white communities and communities of color by addressing structural racism.

Candace K. Beinecke is the senior partner of international law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Ms. Beinecke became the first female head of a major New York firm in 1999, and her practice focuses on corporate governance and sensitive matters and investigations. She serves as co-chair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, chair and trustee of the Wallace Foundation, and as a director of the Partnership for New York City. Ms. Beinecke received her A.B. from New York University and her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law.

Valerie Berlin is a co-founder and principal at BerlinRosen, providing counsel across the firm’s practice areas, with an emphasis on public affairs, social impact, philanthropy, and campaigns. From racial and criminal justice to women’s health, immigration reform and more, Valerie has helped manage complicated communications campaigns leading to groundbreaking victories. Her expertise has also helped elect Democrats across 21 states. Prior to BerlinRosen, Valerie spent 20 years as an organizer, campaign manager, and senior communications director.