From Professor to Politics
By Alexis Colucci
Lydia Biskup has always been an advocate — first for women in the business field, then for students at Marist, and now for the constituents of New York State. As the Director of District Operations for Senator Sue Serino, Lydia has been vigilant in prioritizing residents of District 41 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Director of District Operations, Lydia oversees the Dutchess and Putnam County District Senate offices, specifically the government entities within them, such as the Departments of Transportation and Motor Vehicles. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing policy objectives, strategies, and operating plans for district offices to maintain relationships between the Senator, staff, local officials, and constituents.
Prior to working for Senator Serino, Lydia was an adjunct professor in Marist’s Fashion Department. While at Marist, she expanded the program, advised hundreds of students, and created Fashionlogy — now known as MPorium. Lydia also became the internship coordinator for the program and launched Marist in Manhattan.
“It was the greatest satisfaction when a student would call me and say ‘I got a job’ or ‘I got this internship’ and I feel really proud of that,” Lydia recalls.
After 18 years at Marist and shortly after Senator Serino’s re-election, Lydia’s phone rang — the Senator was inviting Lydia for coffee.
“We met and she said, ‘I'd like you to work for me,’” Lydia says. “I started to laugh. I thought she wanted me to do a fundraiser, but she said, ‘No, I’d like you to run my Senate office.’”
Lydia has always been committed to helping others. While proud of her accomplishments at Marist and grateful for the colleagues who gave her the opportunity to execute new ideas, Lydia knew the choice she had to make.
“I really loved my job, but I jumped in [as Director of District Operations] at 100 percent,” Lydia says. “The job didn’t come with a playbook. I had no idea what I was in for, but that’s how it started — I took the leap.”
Illustration by Jack Rader
Before moving from Manhattan to Poughkeepsie, Lydia was involved with politics in her personal life. In the West Village, Lydia formed a neighborhood association that met with local elected officials and community leaders. Through an initiative, they established a buddy-system for the elderly who were afraid to go out. After moving to Poughkeepsie, Lydia knew she wanted to remain active in local government and take pride in where she lived.
“Regardless of how people lean politically, the most important thing is that they’re engaged, because democracy is not a spectator sport.”
In Poughkeepsie, Lydia joined the Federated Republican Women of Dutchess County and Town of Poughkeepsie Republican committee. Between 2007 and 2014, she served as the president and chair of both, respectively.
Despite Lydia’s extensive leadership experience in the classroom, industry, and politics, COVID-19 posed unprecedented challenges. At the start of the pandemic, Senator Serino’s office handled 75-100 phone calls everyday, in addition to floods of emails. Immediately, Lydia harnessed her business experience to delegate tasks similar to what she’d done in the fashion industry years before.
“How did we prioritize what was important in our office? The short answer is: we didn’t...If someone calls me about something that's important to them, why is that more important than someone else’s needs?” Lydia explains. “We were speaking to people at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes 10 at night, just so they could hear a human voice.”
It was imperative to go beyond a simple email. The human connection that Lydia encouraged and practiced was something she also taught the interns in Serino’s office. Since 2015, Lydia has hired 57 interns, mostly Marist students.
“It’s a motto I used in business: If someone calls the office, you have 24-48 hours to get back to them,” Lydia says. “You might not have the answer and you might not have the answer they like, but you have to get back to them, and we pride ourselves on that.”
During her time in the business industry, Lydia earned the title of Senior Vice President of Merchandising for Loehmann’s. She oversaw $40 million worth of financial plans and designed domestic and off-shore fashion merchandising programs, a role she worked up to, starting from an Executive Trainee position. It is one of Lydia’s greatest accomplishments.
“When I was coming up the ranks in the fashion industry, there were only two female VP’s in our company. I was the 3rd,” Lydia says. “Even though fashion is a business that women gravitate towards, it was basically controlled by men. It wasn’t easy, but I remember the president of our company said to me, ‘You can get anywhere you want in this company, but you’re not going to get there because you’re a woman, you’re going to get there because you work like everyone else.’”
Besides her career, Lydia also takes pride in raising a daughter. Lydia is thankful for her own mother and family and their influence on her life. Lydia was one of five children, and there was more emphasis on Lydia’s brothers to attend college.
“My mom was old-school; she thought it was more important for my brothers to go to college,” Lydia recalls. She told her mom she really wanted to go, and her mom responded, “Figure out how to get there.”
Lydia was relentless and pursued an education. “My parents have always been supportive, but financially they could only do certain things, so I did [college] on my own.”
Lydia continues to work hard under every circumstance. She constantly makes a point to help others, which has been needed during the pandemic. In her role as Director of District Operations, Lydia treats every resident of N.Y’s 41st District with the utmost respect and care.
“It’s hard when you can’t help someone as quickly as you would like. One man said to me, ‘I’ve always paid my taxes, I've always done what the government asked me to do, where’s my government when I need them?’ I’ll never forget that,” Lydia says. “So we were very verbal with the Governor's office. We had calls every day because we needed answers on this.”
Lydia’s commitment to her constituents during COVID-19 is commendable, and she demonstrates it daily. She is a leader, a mother, a businesswoman, a teacher, a mentor, and above all: an advocate.
“You can propose the best legislation, you can send out the best mailer, but you need to be there to help the constituents when they need you — that's our job.”
FOR THE RECORD UNCUT
OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography by Bobby Oliver
For this year’s project, we asked our Changemakers to bring items that had meaning to them to the shoot.
“Photo - My family. I cherish and love my supportive husband and kind daughter.
Fashion tote with Marist crest - To note my career in the fashion industry and my teaching/mentorship/creativity with the Fashion Program at Marist College. Teaching, advising, Director of Marist in Manhattan, professor Fashionology (now EMPORIUM)
Book - My enthusiasm for reading and the importance of my book club in my life.
American Flag- Love for our country, involvement in government, politics and service to community.”