The FWA is pleased to share that Virginia Maloney will be honored as the 2026 Public Sector Woman of the Year at the FWA's 70th Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2026.
We look forward to introducing additional honorees in the weeks ahead.
Council Member Virginia Maloney is a lifelong resident of the East Side and a dedicated public servant to her hometown community. She represents New York City Council District 4, which includes the Upper East Side, East Midtown, Kips Bay, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Sutton Place, Tudor City, Peter Cooper Village, and Stuyvesant Town.
In the Council, Virginia chairs the Economic Development Committee, which supports small businesses, strengthens local economies, and creates economic opportunities across the city. She is also Co-Chair of the Manhattan Delegation, Co-Chair of the Irish Caucus, and serves on the following Committees: Finance, Small Business, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Housing and Buildings, Fire and Emergency Management, Higher Education, and Cultural Affairs & Libraries.
Throughout her career, Virginia has worked at the intersection of innovation and public service. She ran programs at the New York City Economic Development Corporation to support small businesses, attract top technical talent, and strengthen the city’s workforce. She helped expand free public Wi-Fi and fiber infrastructure across New York City during the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations.
Virginia has also consulted for the federal government on major initiatives, including modernizing high-speed rail with the Federal Railroad Administration, building telecommunications infrastructure with the Federal Communications Commission, and improving healthcare outcomes.
In addition, Virginia has over a decade of experience in the technology sector, where she developed and scaled products that connect blind and vision-impaired individuals with real-time assistance. She brings a results-oriented, systems-focused approach to the City Council and is committed to making city government work better for the people who rely on it every day.
Virginia has been recognized by City & State as a 2025 40 Under 40: Rising Star and named to the 2025 Manhattan Power 100. She served on the Executive Committee of the Lexington Democratic Club from 2022 to 2025 and has served on the boards of the NYC Foundation for Senior Citizens and the Teach For America Young Professionals Committee.
Virginia holds a B.A. in Public Policy and Environmental Studies from Princeton University, an M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School, and an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management.
