Power Women

MADRE Executive Director Yifat Susskind partners with women human rights activists from around the world to create programs in their communities that meet urgent needs and create lasting change. A lifelong promoter of human rights, Yifat leads MADRE’s combined strategy of community-based partnerships and international human rights advocacy.

Under Yifat’s leadership, MADRE has enabled thousands of local women’s rights activists from around the world to survive and thrive in the wake of war and climate disasters. With MADRE, women strengthen their lives and communities, making their voices heard in the halls of power — from village councils to the UN Security Council.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity? 
Attacks on women’s rights are on the rise here in the U.S. and around the world. We see this in actions like the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in June. The right-wing attacks bodily autonomy because the social, economic, and political independence of historically marginalized communities is a building block of progressive change. 

Luckily, we have allies and teachers in this fight — including in feminist movements worldwide. As we build a long-term strategy to increase women’s rights here in the U.S., we must look toward feminist allies around the world who are facing similar fights. From movements to decriminalize abortion in Colombia and Mexico, to ending militarism in Yemen and Palestine, their work illuminates a path towards increased equity and equality that we can build here at home.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state? 
To advance women’s rights, policymakers must center and push the solutions led by women, girls, Black and Indigenous communities, and people of color. These communities are on the frontlines of the escalating crises we face around the world and right here in New York. Grassroots feminists worldwide are holding the line against assaults on rights, climate catastrophe, and growing militarization. They are shaping solutions we need most at this moment and are leading the way to a just, peaceful, and sustainable world. 

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Liliukalani, the last sovereign Queen of Hawaii. Despite being overthrown and imprisoned by the U.S., Liliukalani continued to fight for her people. I’d love to learn from her about Hawaii before the conquest and hear her story directly.

Ella Baker, a fierce and loving civil rights leader and a role model for three things I strive to bring to my work: joy, learning, and intergenerational equity.

Dr. Wangari Maathai is an inspiration for MADRE’s climate justice work. It would be an honor to talk with her and a pleasure to tell her about the many ways that her legacy endures.   

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself? 
Be authentic, principled, and playful.

Dr. Tania Tetlow is the first woman and lay person to serve as president of Fordham University in its 181-year history (and before that, at Loyola University New Orleans.) Tetlow is a lawyer and law professor. She worked as a federal prosecutor in New Orleans and directed a domestic violence law clinic at Tulane.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
We need to end gender-based violence.

We need to grapple with rising economic inequality, which hits women — and women of color — particularly hard.

And we need culture-shift, to encourage men to serve as equal partners and parents.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
An undercurrent of violence enforces the rules of gender oppression. Women are still beaten, often to death, by husbands and partners for not being obedient enough. If women are raped, we will be blamed for not being virtuous. Fear restricts our freedoms every day. Policymakers should make fighting domestic violence and sexual assault a priority. We need to change the criminal justice system to create real deterrence, a better safety net, and empathy for survivors.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Mary Magdalene, the unofficial disciple of Jesus who never gets her due. I have so many questions.

Queen Elizabeth I, who walked tightropes hard to imagine.

And Diane Nash, my favorite civil rights (and American) hero, who is gratefully still alive.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
You have a long life ahead of you with many different careers. Stop worrying so much about every decision and just focus on keeping doors open.

Maria is charged with spearheading the administration’s efforts to strengthen and diversify its economy, invest in emerging industries, bolster small business, connect New Yorkers to family-sustaining jobs, and expand access to arts and culture. Maria has a long track record of public service. She led three City agencies with over 3,000 employees and approximately $2 billion in annual operating budgets. Throughout her tenure in government, she has worked to create powerful partnerships among communities, business, and the agencies she has led in pursuit of expanded economic opportunity for all New Yorkers.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
For too long, people living in low-income communities had fewer opportunities and less power to improve their lives. This is magnified for women and girls, many of whom have insufficient say in the decisions that affect themselves and their families. Women can successfully participate in and benefit from the economy only when they have meaningful opportunities to gain employment, access services, and earn fair compensation. From corporate boardrooms to local city halls, we must accelerate the fight for gender equality and parity and do the work of dismantling structural barriers, empowering individual women, and centering women in the Covid-19 recovery.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
We all know that women still face too many roadblocks in the pursuit of economic security.  These inequities are deeper for women of color, older New Yorkers, and those with less access to educational opportunity. So our work across policy domains — from reproductive health and housing security, to education access and financial empowerment — continues to require an acute sense of urgency. Policymakers would be served well by hewing to certain principles: 1) shift the narrative and make women visible; 2) build a strong analytical foundation for the issues women face; 3) diversify the experts who drive the policy formation and public discussion; 4) ensure the speed and velocity of those discussions; and 4) identify actions that close the very clear gap between awareness of the problem and action.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barbara Jordan and Julia Child as they are legends in their fields and immeasurably inspiring.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
I would tell her that 1) the road ahead will take a lot of courage — courage first and foremost to show up, courage to speak up, courage to sometimes take it on the chin, and courage to keep moving forward, and 2) leadership is neither a marathon nor a sprint, it’s a relay. You will be taking the baton from those who blazed trails before you, going as far and as fast as you can on your leg of the journey, and hopefully propelling the next person forward.

Mary Vaccaro is the UFT vice president for education. She was elected by the union’s Executive Board in September 2020. Mary taught elementary school children for 26 years, mostly in Queens. Mary became a union activist driven by her passion to advance the profession by exercising member voice and vigorously advocating for the quality education her students deserve. Mary took stands against high-stakes testing, particularly in the early childhood grades, school overcrowding, and fought for fair contracts for her members.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
We need to pay our workers equally; it is about the work, not gender. We also need to support our women in industries that are male-dominated, such as construction, policing, and firefighting. We should break that glass ceiling and elect our first woman president.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
I believe that New York policymakers should focus their leadership on gender equity, specifically on pay equity, breaking the glass ceiling, improvements in the health of women, and the elimination of the Pink Tax. We need to strengthen our laws on fair work environments, especially for women.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Eleanor Roosevelt because she is a strong woman that was ahead of her time. Sandra Feldman, who ran my union, the United Federation of Teachers, and was the first woman to do it. She was also the first woman president of the AFT. Dolores Huerta, who was a teacher and quit that work to become an organizer after witnessing plight in her community. She worked under Cesar Chavez and became a leader of the labor movement.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
I would tell young Mary to speak up and make sure her voice is always heard. I would also tell my younger self that being an educator will be the greatest reward and impactful to many students and parents.

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez is currently serving as representative for New York’s seventh congressional District. In the 117th Congress, she is the chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. She is the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
To achieve a society in which gender parity exists, we must take important steps to close the pay gap, ensure reproductive rights are protected and care is accessible, pass paid family leave, cancel student debt — the list goes on. In Congress, I’ve been proud to champion these issues throughout my entire career.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
As we have seen in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, New York policymakers have stepped up to make our state a place that respects and provides access to abortion care and other critical health care services. New York has been a progressive leader for women, but we still have much work to do and need leaders who are committed to fighting for women.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Sonia Sotomayor

Frances Perkins

Shirley Chisholm

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
Never let anyone else define you or your success. When you build a coalition by and for the people, that will always speak louder than money spent in a campaign.

Anne Williams-Isom is New York City deputy mayor for health and human services. Previously, she served as a professor at Fordham, as CEO at Harlem Children’s Zone, as deputy commissioner at New York City Administration for Children’s Services, and as a lawyer. She holds a B.A. from Fordham, a J.D. from Columbia, and a doctorate in Ministry from the New York Theological School. She is a native New Yorker and lives with her husband, three children, and 91-year-old mother.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
There are a number of areas to increase gender parity, including: advancing pay equity (a recent NYS Comptroller study showed women earning 80 cents for every dollar men managers earned); putting the supports into place to address intimate partner and gender-based violence for every woman, person, child, and family touched by the issue; and protecting reproductive health services, including access to abortion services for any person that needs it.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Policymakers must tackle the aforementioned issues regarding gender parity and continue advancing policies that support women, children, families, and every person in need. When we focus on policies that impact women, it spurs economic growth (as we have seen with family leave policies); strengthens the family, as many women are the anchors for their nuclear families; and opens more doors for the next generation of women entering the workforce, domestic life, or public service.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Personally, my maternal grandmother — she gave birth to 14 children and died shortly after my mom was born in 1930. This was all in Trinidad. My grandmother must have gone through so much in her young life.

Additionally, Ruth Bator Ginsberg — she was such a champion for women in her years on the bench.

Lastly, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz — they were both such strong women and had young families when their husbands were killed fighting to make America and the world more fair and just.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
We think so much about decisions in our life — our college major, or our first job. Life is a process — find ways to enjoy that process. We can make decisions and change course later, so be confident in whatever you do. Your support systems are also really important — friends, family, colleagues. We need support to make life go. The future is bright, with so many young women out there tackling the world with grace, confidence, and love.

Sheena Wright is the deputy mayor for strategic initiatives under the Eric Adams Administration. She will focus on advancing the administration’s top priorities. Prior to her appointment, Deputy Mayor Wright served as the transition chair for the Adams team, helping to engage and oversee over 600 stakeholders. Additionally, Sheena served as the first female president and CEO of United Way NYC. United Way is a nonprofit organization dedicated to help mobilize our communities to break down barriers and build opportunities that improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers for the benefit of all.

Sheena was named number one on City & State New York’s Nonprofit Power 100, listed in Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Black Leaders and Executives, was appointed to Mayor De Blasio’s Education Sector Advisory Council and Governor Cuomo’s New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board. Wright serves as a trustee for Columbia University, and as a board member for New Visions for Public Schools, NYC Kids Rise, and the New York City Regional Economic Development Council.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
For far too long, gender and racial pay disparities have been status quo. This has real, tangible impacts on the ability of families to get ahead. I’m proud to be part of an administration committed to equity and not afraid to look inward. Through our Pay Equity Cabinet, we are undertaking a job evaluation process to examine discrepancies by race and gender across key City titles. The Cabinet will also recommend recruitment, promotion, and other strategies for increasing parity. This work is complex, but we are committed to developing thoughtful, structural solutions that level the playfield for current and future generations.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Universal childcare is an absolute necessity to support women across the state. The inaccessibility of childcare especially affects women-led and low-income families and threatens financial stability overall. The most impactful investment we can make to alleviate poverty starts with our youngest children, and over 52% of families in New York City alone cannot afford childcare. Having to change or leave careers to care for children, especially since the pandemic, disproportionately affects women. Income stability, career growth, and pay parity are all affected by supporting universal childcare.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
If I could have dinner with any three women from history, they would be Harriet Tubman, Mother Teresa, and Toni Morrison.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
The advice I would share with a younger version of myself is to not be in such a hurry.

Kathryn Wylde is president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, whose members are the city’s global business leaders and major employers. In response to COVID-19, the Partnership has been a key liaison between the public and private sectors with respect to health and economic challenges. It has focused recovery efforts on support for small business and advocacy for policies that will restore jobs and retain talent in the city.

What steps still need to be taken to increase gender parity?
Women achieve parity when they band together and demand it, whether as a voting bloc, at the job, or in the streets.

What can New York policymakers do to support the interests of women across the state?
Appoint women to decision-making positions and support women leaders when they are under attack.

If you could have dinner with any three women from history, who would they be and why?
Emily Brontë, Louisa May Alcott, and Louise Erdrich (still alive) because I love how they present strong women in their novels.

What advice or wisdom would you share with a younger version of yourself?
Brutal honesty is not always the best policy.