Trailblazers headline third Westchester Women’s Summit
Two groundbreaking women will address the third annual Westchester Women”™s Summit (WWS) on March 10 at the Sonesta White Plains Downtown hotel.
CNN political analyst April Ryan, the longest-serving African American female White House correspondent in history, will deliver the breakfast keynote, while New York state Attorney General Letitia James ”“ the first woman of color to hold statewide office in New York and the first woman to be elected the state”™s attorney general ”“ will speak at the afternoon reception.
They”™ll join a group of community leaders who”™ll share their knowledge and experience in the summit”™s 12 workshops and on the Trailblazer Luncheon Panel. Among them are Dee DelBello, publisher of Westfair Communications Inc., which owns the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals; News 12 anchor Tara Rosenblum; United States Magistrate Court Judge Kim Berg; radio host Kacey Morabito Grean; Northwell Health Executive Director Eileen Egan; Jacqueline Hattar, a partner in the law firm of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP; and Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN) health coach Jenon Wong.
“The idea is to learn from experts, network with changemakers and feel empowered to create positive change in yourself and your community,” said Rose Cappa-Rotunno, founder of The Event Department, which created the event in 2020 in cooperation with the Westchester/Fairfield region”™s top businesswomen and corporations. “It”™s always an electric, happy event ”“ a unique and challenging conference and a place for self-discovery and growth, where (some 500) women can support each other in a judgment-free zone.”
Among the urgent topics the summit will address are fair pay and gender pay gaps, coping with burnout and stress, work/life balance, women”™s health, mentorship and raising girls to face life”™s challenges with strong leadership skills.
Leadership characterizes the two women at the forefront of the event.
In addition to being a CNN analyst, Ryan serves as the White House correspondent and Washington, D.C. bureau chief for TheGrio, a website covering Black news, lifestyle and opinion. For 23 years, she was the White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks. From that vantage, she has had one-on-one interviews with many national leaders, including Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush; former first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former vice president Al Gore; and John Kerry, currently the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. She is the author of three books ”“ “The Presidency in Black and White,” “At Mama”™s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White” and “Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House.”
A multiple award winner who has appeared in numerous publications, Ryan served on the board of the White House Correspondents Association ”” one of only three African Americans in the association”™s 100-year history to do so ”“ and is a member of the National Press Club. The Baltimore native, a graduate of Morgan State University, gives back to her community by serving as a mentor to aspiring journalists and assisting in the development of up-and-coming broadcasters.
As New York state attorney general, “Tish” James has made it her mission to fight for the vulnerable. She has secured more than $7.5 billion for New York from lawbreakers, including more than $2.5 billion from opioid manufacturers and distributors for their roles in the opioid epidemic. Under her leadership, the Office of the Attorney General has helped remove more than 4,000 guns from New York communities, taken down dozens of drug- and gun-trafficking rings throughout the state and instituted legal action to stop the proliferation of ghost guns, which are made privately and therefore untraceable.
James has gone after predatory landlords who harass tenants and endanger children by violating New York”™s lead paint laws. She has protected New Yorkers”™ health and the state”™s natural resources by prosecuting polluters and companies that flout environmental protection laws. And she has gone to the United States Supreme Court to stop a question about citizenship from being added to the census.
Before serving as attorney general, Letitia James was New York City”™s public advocate, passing more legislation than all previous public advocates combined, including a groundbreaking law that banned questions about salary history from the employment process to address the pervasive gender wage gap. Prior to that, she represented the 35th Council District of her native Brooklyn in the New York City Council for 10 years. As a council member, she passed the Safe Housing Act, which forced landlords to improve living conditions for tenants in New York City”™s worst buildings. Before her election to the city council, James was head of the Brooklyn Regional Office of the New York State Attorney General”™s Office. A graduate of Lehman College in the Bronx and Howard University School of Law, James began her career as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society.
The Westchester Women”™s Summit takes place 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. VIP admission, $300, 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. General admission, $200, includes continental breakfast, lunch, all workshops and the Wine Women & Chocolate reception.
Proceeds benefit Girls Inc. Westchester, dedicated to creating girls-only programs that equip young women with the essential knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life and work. Founded in 2007, Girls Inc. Westchester is a nonprofit affiliated with the larger 150-year old national organization, which maintains more than 85 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.
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