Elect Her event aims to increase women in leadership

The Undergraduate Student Government, Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, Panhellenic Council and Women’s Student Assembly partnered with the program Elect Her to host a workshop on Thursday evening geared toward training women to run for student government positions. The event, which was held in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center, also sought to increase interest among women in becoming public officeholders in the future.

Elect Her is a national program co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women and Running Start, both women’s advocacy organizations that seek to narrow the political gender gap by empowering more women to run for public offices, including student government. According to its website, Elect Her has hosted 50 student workshops at different colleges this year, with 76 percent of participants who reported running for positions becoming elected.

USG President Rini Sampath and Vice President Jordan Fowler spoke first, discussing some of their personal campaign experiences while maintaining an interactive discussion with attendees.

Monica Garcia, a councilmember in the City of Baldwin Park and a USC alumna, gave the keynote presentation. Garcia said that her experiences at USC sparked her interest in politics and that she actively worked toward running for governmental positions.

“Women bring a unique perspective and leadership style to public offices, and it’s important to make sure women are well-represented,” Garcia said.

One of the event’s topics was identifying reasons why men hold more student government offices than women.

“Politics is a small world, and often what can end up happening is male politicians sometimes create a type of ‘boys’ club,’” said Garcia.

Aisha Counts, a sophomore majoring in business administration and philosophy, politics and law, said the lack of women in leadership can be daunting to women seeking office.

“Fear of failure is always there for anyone, but there are a lot of stigmas and stereotypes that surround women especially,” Counts said. “Also, women don’t see a lot of other women in offices, and that in itself can be discouraging because of historical differences.”

Some students have observed women being treated differently than men for sharing similar characteristics.

“Oftentimes, when men are assertive, they’re seen as strong and powerful. When women are assertive, they’re seen as uptight,” said Christian Sibrian, a senior studying business administration.

Another primary message of the event had to do with building skills that empower women to win elections.

“The most important thing I learned by attending this event has to do with actually figuring out why I want to run for an office and using that passion to overcome all the challenges I’ll face,” Counts said.

Fowler emphasized the importance of self-confidence.

“Believing in yourself and your abilities can help you achieve a lot more than you think you can, so listen to yourself and support yourself,” Fowler said. “Supporting yourself makes others want to follow you, and it’s important to build real connections with people you enjoy and who believe in you to make changes.”