Senator Kirsten Gillibrand teamed up with the Partnership for NYC and Council for Urban Professionals Monday to host the first ever "Women's Economic Empowerment Summit."

About 500 took part in the NYU event which focuses on equal pay for women, searching for a job, and being competitive in the workforce.

Organizers say they hope the event will close the achievement gap between genders.

"We want to give women tools they need to get access to capital if they're a woman-owned business," Gillibrand said. "They start their businesses with eight times less capital than men-owned businesses so we want to give them the tools to find how to get that money."

Currently, there are more women than men in college and holding advanced careers. But in the workforce, they only make 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. For African American women, that number drops to 71 cents, Latinas 62 cents.

"Men are really good advocates for themselves. They are not shy. They do not think that it is indelicate to self-promote," said White House advisor Valerie Jarret.

"More than half the battle is just having the cojones to really just say 'I'm worth more,'" said Personal Finance Expert Carmen Wong Ulrich.

While state politics wasn't really on Monday's menu, Gillibrand, the state's second female U.S. Senator, is up for re-election next year.

The sour financial picture was a hotter topic, with some helpful advice being doled out by the panel.

"Something's gonna give. And you know what you just have to be comfortable and confident with the decisions that you make," said Majora Carter of the Sustainable South Bronx Foundation.

"I think you have to not just look for job postings that are out there, but meet with people and maybe try to elbow yourself into jobs that maybe don't exist," said conference attendee Liz Walczak.

Also announced at the event was a new mentoring project for those interested in entering the business world sponsored with the Partnership for New York City.