29th Annual Kate Stoneman Day

ALBANY LAW SCHOOL’S annual celebration of women in law, named for its first female graduate and the first woman to practice law in New York—brought energy and inspiration to the community.
 Hon. Teneka E. Frost ’02—Schenectady’s first Black City Court judge—was the recipient of the prestigious Miriam M. Netter ’72 Kate Stoneman Award.

 “Today I not only get to tell my story, but tell it through the lens of Kate Stoneman. I admire leaders, people who are bold enough to say, ‘I’m going to change the world’ and then pave their own path to do it. Kate Stoneman did that. She was a visionary. She didn’t waste an opportunity. She fulfilled her purpose to use her education to uplift her community,” Frost said.

Additionally, Hon. Patricia Marks ’74, the first female full-time Assistant District Attorney in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and Secretary Alejandra N. Paulino ’02, the first Latina to serve as the Secretary of the New York Senate were honored with Kate Stoneman awards.

 “As I’ve gone through Albany Law School today and seen the changes, the number of women here and the women who are just so talented and interested in the efforts to deal with the issues [such as] domestic violence. Some things haven’t changed, but I think this class of Albany Law School here, whom I’ve met today, is going to change some of that,” Marks said.

 Paulino thanked her family and mentors who gave her a chance over the years, particularly members of the New York State Senate and James E. Long, who she worked for before joining the state government.

 “They’ve always believed in me when I didn’t know even who I was. And that’s so powerful for some-one who really, when they walked out of the capitol, didn’t see anybody else that looked like them. The New York State Senate for me, had always been the place that I went to. It is still home for me because there were people from all over…as you continue and you become trailblazers in your own right, I will say get that person and be that person to others who says “I see you.”