News & Politics
Elle Bisgaard-Church, Hope Knight, Cathleen McCadden Benjamin honored as women thought leaders in government
At a Kasirer and City & State event, Bisgaard-Church emphasized Zohran Mamdani’s universal child care push.
Cathleen McCadden Benjamin, center left, and Elle Bisgaard-Church, center right. Rita Thompson
On Thursday morning, she was meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul and the mayor-elect. In the evening, Zohran Mamdani’s incoming chief of staff and closest adviser Elle Bisgaard-Church made an appearance at a private event with New York City’s most powerful lobbying firm. Bisgaard-Church was among those honored at the “Women’s Thought Leader Reception” Thursday night, co-hosted by City & State and Kasirer.
The room was full of some 250 women power brokers in politics, government, business, advocacy and the arts. Kasirer, founded by Suri Kasirer and led by women, remains the top lobbyist in New York city by compensation, raking in more than $17 million in 2024.
Accepting her award, Bisgaard-Church told a story about when a visitor to Mamdani’s Assembly office mistook the male intern for Mamdani’s chief of staff, overlooking her. “No one meant any disrespect by it,” she said. “Still though, it says something about social expectations, about the roles of women in our society, and in politics especially.” She thanked her single mom and emphasized Mamdani’s core campaign promise of universal child care. “It is up to us to build and cultivate durable institutions, which make possible more fulfilling and many-sided lives for all people, especially women,” Bisgaard-Church said.
Bisgaard-Church’s award was presented by immigrant advocate Adama Bah, founder and CEO of Afrikana, who has worked with Kasirer on advocating for the Empire State Licensing Act. The state bill would help gain access to professional and commercial licensure regardless of immigration status.
Also recognized at the event were Hope Knight, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development, and Cathleen McCadden Benjamin, Hochul’s appointments secretary. In the private sector, honorees included Channon Lucas of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, Lynn Usdan of LVMH and Michelle Goldstein of Morgan Stanley.
With a sea change coming in City Hall, the city’s political class is pressed to reestablish relationships with the incoming administration. After the program, Bisgaard-Church was promptly surrounded by attendees who wanted to shake her hand – including Kasirer herself.