Gillibrand urges leadership role for women

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand used a forum at Hofstra University on Friday to call on women to take on leadership roles in politics, business and their communities.

"Mentoring, becoming a role model for women to aspire to decision-making roles, we need more of that," said Gillibrand, who chaired a panel discussion at the Helene Fortunoff Theater.

The discussion, "Getting off the sidelines: A conversation about the urgency of women's political, community and business leadership today," kicked off Lifetime Television's 2012 "Every Woman Counts" campaign to increase women's participation in the political process.

Other panelists included Geri Barish, who heads the 1 in 9 Foundation, a Long Island group that advocates for women's cancer care; Anna Kaplan, a newly elected member of the North Hempstead Town Council; Sam Bennett, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Women's Campaign Forum, which backs female politicians who support choice in reproductive health; and Tiffany Dufu, president of the White House project, a leadership training organization based in Brooklyn.

While the event was billed as nonpartisan, Gillibrand, a Democrat, told Newsday that she would urge women to vote for President Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election because "he understands the problems women face."

Told of Gillibrand's comment, Anthony Santino, a spokesman for Nassau Republican Party chairman Joseph Mondello, said, "She is completely out of touch with Long Island families who are struggling under the worst economy since the Great Depression."