BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's a spin on the traditional Take Your Daughter to Work Day.

More than 300 girls across New York who may not have normally had the opportunity otherwise were paired with leaders in state government and businesses Thursday.

"My foster mom Rachel, her boss talked to Rachel about it and was like, I want Serenity to work with the lieutenant governor and work for her for the day," Lackawanna High School student Serenity said.

She shadowed Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul as she went to different events and meetings around the City of Buffalo. Hochul, despite a recent suggestion from some, including Gov. Cuomo, she might run for Congress, said she's steadfast about seeking four more years. She said it's for opportunities like this one.

"I consider public service a privilege. Always have and always will and today I just feel the same. It's a privilege to be able to be here with Serenity, expose her to what we have here," Hochul said.

The schedule included the grand opening of a research and development division for a local defense contractor, a tour of the 43North business incubator and a visit to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, among other stops.

"It inspires me to expand my branches and to reach out to different things and I wanted to go to school for criminal justice but now I'm looking into like coding and stuff like that," Serenity said.

The lieutenant governor says the message is important because women are still dealing with gender barriers, wage gaps and harassment in the workplace.

"When I can bring a young woman here today, let her see and rub elbows with these people, let her see other women particularly who are using their minds and their hands and their brilliant ideas to create a product but also jobs, I wanted her to see that she has the possibility of being part of it," Hochul said.