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Christina Gilmartin
Communications Director, City of Yonkers
Politics has been branded as many things. For Christina Gilmartin, it’s “a different type of entertainment.” And she should know. Gilmartin, who oversees the press, social media, marketing, public relations, and external communications for the City of Yonkers and Mayor Mike Spano, previously worked in communications for TV networks. “You use the same skillset, though my crisis-communication skills have been honed here more than in my previous positions,” she laughs.
Gilmartin has always been interested in politics, minoring in political science in college. “I grew up in a household where politics was talked about every day,” she says, adding that her mother was active in Yonkers politics, and the young Gilmartin would tag along with her to meetings and events.
Today, part of Gilmartin’s role is to successfully build public support for initiatives that the mayor is passionate about, such as the Rebuild Yonkers Schools and Ban the Barges campaigns. And she is proud to represent women in her field. “Government tends to be a male-dominated industry,” she says. “We are just starting to see women come to the top, which is a validation that women are just as smart and valuable, and have different and unique points of view than the men in the room.” She also knows the playing field is far from level. “There is still a lot of work ahead of us,” she says.