Several hundred female Uber drivers from the Boston area, a handful of Uber staff members and one state representative gathered in the Seaport Hotel’s Plaza Ballroom last night for the company’s “Women Move Massachusetts” event, celebrating the women of Uber, who now make up a significant portion of the ride-sharing program’s workforce.

Uber’s Boston-area General Manager Cathy Zhou told the audience that in July more than one-third of new drivers entering the program in Massachusetts were women, and the total number of female drivers in the state has doubled this year.

Zhou described three primary tenets of Uber’s business model that make it a compelling option for women:

• Equal pay and scheduling between drivers.
• A flexible schedule, allowing drivers to attend to other responsibilities of daily life.
• Driver safety mechanisms, particularly cashless transactions and a network of driver resources and support.

These qualities were at the center of several testimonials given by experienced Uber drivers, such as Roberta, who was able to take time off while her young son was hospitalized without fear of losing her job, or Lynne, who uses Uber to help not only fund her freelance photography, but inspire it during her early morning drives.

“It’s helped us keep that business afloat, but it’s also helped me picture Boston in a whole new light,” Lynne said. “It’s just been great on so many levels.”

Finally, Rep. Danielle Gregoire of Massachuetts’ 4th Middlesex District took the stage to offer her admiration of the “fiercely independent and driven” women of Uber, apologizing for the pun.

“I appreciate women who stand out, like you,” she told the audience, describing her disappointment in the mere 26 percent of state legislators who are women, even in a famously progressive state like Massachusetts.

Gregoire is the only woman on the state’s Joint Committee on Financial Services, which is set to gauge possible legislation to regulate Uber, the lack of which has been a point of controversy of late.

Gregoire called for an expansion of the Uber program throughout the state, including her town of Marlborough.

“I understand where you’re coming from,” she said. “I support you, and I hope to help you.”