This past year has been challenging for so many leaders navigating tough economic conditions and a changing landscape. Last month, I had the pleasure of joining an extraordinary group of leaders at the Women in Business Awards Luncheon in Westchester County. The women honored came from different sectors, different stories and different paths, but they are united by one shared commitment: delivering for New Yorkers.
Throughout my career and especially this past year, I have seen firsthand how female leaders across New York are stepping up despite mounting pressures. So many of them are navigating the sting of inflation and an affordability crisis, while shouldering the burdens of childcare and caregiving. When the economy takes a bad turn, it is women who feel the brunt of the consequences. And yet they continue to lead, serve and keep their communities moving forward.
Two honorees at the Westchester luncheon captured that same resilience. Dr. Janelle Luk, a first-generation Asian-American built her career by proving her expertise again and again, and now helps hundreds of women navigate fertility and holistic wellness.
Debbie Burrell-Butler, who began as a teenage clerk at the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau, now leads the entire agency and oversees programs that reach more than 1,400 young people each year. When little girls see women like Janelle and Debbie leading, building and thriving, they see themselves as leaders, CEOs, founders and presidents.
New York government also benefits from female leadership
We also saw extraordinary leadership within government itself from leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch and so many more. Under the leadership of NYPD Commissioner Tisch, crime rates have significantly decreased with subway crime, shooting incidents and murders down to record lows. Her leadership reflects what I witnessed all year: women get things done, even when the circumstances are tough.
There were many challenges brought by the federal administration this year and my office stepped up to defend New Yorkers. We fought to protect funding for Planned Parenthood, SNAP benefits, wind energy projects, funding for libraries and schools and so much more. And while our work on the federal level receives the most attention, it is the work we’ve done here in New York of which I am most proud.
We successfully defended our state’s gun safety laws, secured $7.4 billion from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family for their role in the opioid crisis, worked with law enforcement partners to stop drug and gun trafficking in our communities, secured $106 million from Vanguard for cheating investors, kept an all-girls Catholic high school open, protected children from the harms of social media, went after Zillow for cheating renters, and so much more.
As Attorney General, I see every day how female leaders fuel our state’s success — and how essential it is that we continue to support women’s leadership across our great state. In 2026, my office will continue advancing the issues that matter most to women and all New Yorkers: affordability, safer communities, access to health care and an economy that works for working families. That means we need more affordable and accessible childcare, stronger protections against companies that are using technology to drive up costs, and programs that keep us all safe, while taking meaningful action to ensure women can thrive in every corner of our state.
New York is stronger because of women who step up and deliver. And I will continue to fight to protect all New Yorkers’ rights, their opportunities, and their futures in 2026 and beyond.
