“The Westchester Women’s Summit dovetails perfectly with Women’s History Month, as it focuses on issues and opportunities that women care about, and the contributions women have made and continue to make in a variety of fields,” said Rose Cappa-Rotunno, creator of the event, which takes place this year on Friday, March 15, at the Sonesta White Plains Downtown hotel.
Andrea Navedo – actress, producer, author and diversity advocate – will deliver the keynote for the day, which is organized by The Event Department in partnership with Westchester County; Westfair Communications Inc., parent company of News at Noon and the Westfair Business Journal; News 12; and Today Media.
Growing up in the Bronx as a second-generation Puerto Rican – an experience she chronicles in the 2023 book “Our Otherness Is Our Strength: Wisdom from the Boogie Down Bronx” – Navedo has said she didn’t see many portrayals of Latinas in the media. She has helped rectify this with appearances on screens big (“Washington Heights,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Superfast!”) and small “Jane the Virgin,” for which she won an Imagen Award; “Blue Bloods” and “Law & Order.”)
News12 anchor Tara Rosenblum will introduce Navedo and County Executive George Latimer and Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins will offer remarks.
The summit will also include master classes; workshops; networking; a Discovery Village, where the event’s nonprofit partners will share resources; a Women’s Marketplace for shopping; and an Experience Zone for meditation, makeovers and tea-leaf readings.
Cappa-Rotunno originated the first Westchester Women’s Summit in 2020, which featured former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice and broadcast journalist and author Gretchen Carlson. Since then, headliners at the event, which draws around 500 people, have included New York state Attorney General Letitia James, activist Tamika Mallory, actress Chita Rivera, CNN correspondent April Ryan and WCBS-TV anchor Dana Tyler, among others.
Besides the organizers and top conference partners, sponsors include Harrison Edwards Integrated Marketing, Corporate AV, Warburg, Apple Bank, Mack Tech Solutions, Sonesta, VeeKast, Buzz Creators, Co-Communications and The Loft Community Center. The nonprofit partners are Cancer Support Team, Grant Professionals of Lower Hudson, Hope’s Door, Sharc Creative, Westchester Women’s Agenda, Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus, Volunteer New York! and the YWCA.
Added Cappa-Rotunno: “It’s always an electric, happy event – a unique conference and a place for self-discovery and growth, where women can support each other in a judgment-free zone.”
The event takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $300 VIP admission (which includes a private meet and greet with the keynote speaker and sponsors, continental breakfast, lunch, all workshops and the “Wine Women & Chocolate” reception at 3 p.m.); and $200 general admission. (The keynote will be livestreamed for college students.) For tickets and more, visit https://wws.virtualmeetinghub.com.
