A lieutenant of the New York City Police Department, a New York State Assemblywoman, a former New York State Superintendent, and a Politico reporter all have something in common: They are SUNY New Paltz alumnae who attended this year’s Women’s Leadership Summit.
The 10th Women’s Leadership Summit, held on Sept. 25, 2024, welcomed back a record 50 alumnae to offer advice and guidance to roughly 200 students who were in attendance.
The Summit, taking place for the first time in the fall, allowed students to engage in lively, informal small-group career conversations, receive career guidance from experts in a variety of professions, and attend a banquet dinner.
The event kickstarted with a keynote from N. Damali Peterman, CEO and founder of workplace conflict meditation practice Breakthrough ADR, focused on takeaways from her book “Negotiating While Black: Be Who You Are to Get What You Want.”
“Before you can be what you want to be, you have to know what you want,” she said. “Then, you have to show people who you are.”
The keynote set the tone for a series of lively small group sessions, where students, alumnae and volunteer moderators went deep on a variety of topics across disciplines and professions.
This year, several notable alumnae made time to return to campus for the special event. We spoke with them to understand what it means to return to campus, what they hoped students took away from the event, and why it’s important to continue to have women-centered networking opportunities.
‘I don’t think all of the glass ceilings have been shattered’
A common theme of the conversations at this year’s Summit was that, although significant progress made for working women in recent decades, there’s still so much more to be done.
That’s evident in the persistent gender pay gap – on average, women working full-time, year-round are paid 83.7% of what men are paid. This inequity is even greater for Black and Hispanic women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Despite ongoing efforts to break the glass ceiling and movement during the #MeToo era, it’s still uncommon to see the same number of women in leadership positions as men.
"It’s improved from a couple of decades ago, but I don’t think all of the glass ceilings have been shattered,” said Mary Jose ’97 (International Relations), who currently serves as the Associate General Counsel Hospital and Healthcare at One Brooklyn Health. “There is a lot that still needs to be done moving women forward, and that includes providing mentorship, direction and help to students and younger women seeking their career paths.”
This is one of the reasons why networking events such as the Women’s Leadership Summit remain of utmost importance, especially as young students start to think about their future career plans. It’s hard to overstate the impact of simply seeing someone who looks like you in a position you dream of one day attaining, as proof that you can get there too.
That’s a lesson that resonated with Maria Gilbert ’03 (Computer Engineering), one of the first Black women to graduate from the University’s engineering program after it was established in 2001. Today, she serves as a lieutenant for the New York Police Department in the Office of the Police Commissioner and is a former White House Fellow. She hopes other women look at her and know they can achieve the same success.
"I remember sitting in class and saying ‘Wow, there is no one that looks like me,’” said Gilbert. “That’s part of the reason why I’m motivated to come back. I was one of the first few Black women, but I won’t be the last. Knowing that we were the first, we can go back and show that inclusion matters. It’s cool for women to study engineering and other non-traditional fields.”
An opportunity for mentorship
Students who attended the Women’s Leadership Summit had an opportunity to ask questions about what skills can they gain to get their foot in the door, how to land a first job, and what are some challenges faced by young professionals in today’s workforce.
Hearing answers from women who have faced those challenges provided motivation to continue navigating their career paths. It may even lead to more long-term mentorship opportunities, and it’s not uncommon to see students and speakers at the Summit exchanging contact information and making plans to keep in touch.
Alumnae speakers were happy to share their expertise if it meant assisting young professionals throughout their journey.
"Enjoy the journey, take the experiences, and do all the things,” said Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman ’93 (Black Studies). It was her number one piece of advice to students at the Summit. “You’ll be surprised how you benefit from it. For me, I didn’t plan this career, but when it arose, I took it. All the experiences I had culminated for me to be in an elected office. Some people say, ‘I always knew what I wanted to do,’ that wasn’t me, but my experiences prepared me for what I have now.”
At the same time, speakers also had an opportunity to learn from students, an increasingly common phenomenon at networking events like this that has come to be known as reverse mentorship: when a less experienced, oftentimes younger, professional, provides guidance to the more experienced. Reverse mentorship can be valuable for senior leaders across industries, helping them better understand the new generation and providing new ideas for how to approach technology and collaboration.
"Considering the development of how social media and technology is impacting not only jobs, but interviews and developing yourself in a career path, these sorts of events everybody can benefit from on both sides of the fence,” said Jose.
Hyndman agrees: “The road is long, the road is weary, but I think the generations behind me are doing an excellent job and pushing the limit.”
A day of shared knowledge and inspiration
The Women’s Leadership Summit is a unique opportunity for both alumnae and students to mingle and ask questions that provide both with helpful information for their career paths.
Alumnae like Bianca Conway ’10 (Finance), a hedge fund credit management analyst at Morgan Stanley, Tania Velin ’20 (Graphic Design), who works in marketing at Amazon, Alaina Donnellon ’06 (Communication Media), senior vice president of local media at Active International, and Kareen Campbell ’90 (Sociology), who works as an international trade analyst at the United States Customs and Border Protection, and many others, all offered their expertise to benefit future Hawk alumni.
"Events like these provide support,” said Angela Urbina-Medina ’00 (Education Pre-K: General) ’07cas (School Leadership). “That support for women in any kind of leadership role is absolutely essential because there are a million ways that the world shoots at women. I believe these events are vital. I’m so grateful that this is my university, that my university prioritizes this, and that my university invited me to be here. This is the place I need to be.”
The Summit attracted both alumnae who graduated 40 years ago and alumnae who graduated this past spring. Some alumnae who participated had a multigenerational connection to the University, with daughters and moms who also graduated.
It’s a day of shared knowledge and celebration of how far women who graduate from the University can go, all to show current students what success might look like for them too.
"Events like this open up the opportunity for women to communicate with women,” said Gilbert. “You can talk to people who might have a similar pathway to theirs.”
As SUNY New Paltz concludes its 10th Women’s Leadership Summit, we are already planning our next one. If you or someone you know is interested in being a speaker in 2025, for consideration reach out to our Program Director for Special Events Lisa Sandick at sandickl@newpaltz.edu.
