Elect Her: UAlbany Women Win!

UAlbany “Elect Her” Training Targets Political Imbalance

UAlbany is one of many college and university campuses to host Elect Her sessions in partnership with Running Start.  It is the only program in the country that encourages and trains college women to run for student government and future political office while addressing the need to expand the pipeline to women running for office.

A one-day training, Elect Her will prepare students of all majors for positions of leadership in student government, student organizations, elected office, and the workforce. Participants will learn how to mobilize a constituency, craft a message, speak and present confidently as a candidate, and network with inspiring local leaders.  Students do not need to currently hold any formal or informal leadership positions or be involved in student organizations and both undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to attend.

Participants will practice hands-on campaign skills, hear from inspiring local speakers, and discuss research on women in government. 100% of Elect Her attendees at UAlbany in 2018 reported that they would recommend Elect Her to a friend!

Speakers include:

See pictures from the January 2016 event!

See pictures from the January 2015 event!

Registration

Students do not need to currently hold any formal or informal leadership positions or be currently involved in student organizations. Both undergraduate and graduate students from UAlbany and local colleges/universities are welcome to attend.

For more information, please email [email protected].

Sponsored by the Center for Leadership and Service, Division of Student Affairs.

About Running Start

Running Start is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that trains young women to run for political office by giving them the inspiration and skills they need to win. Running Start’s other programs include the Young Women’s Political Leadership Program, the Running Start Internship, the Star Fellowship, Run with Running Start, and #ILookLikeAPolitician. Elect Her was developed with AAUW, the American Association of University Women.

Why Student Government?

Women hold only a small fraction of elected offices in the United States. Engaging women in politics and electing them to office earlier in life is the key to strengthening and increasing women’s representation in government. Many of the campuses who apply for Elect Her show a disparity between the number of women and men serving in prominent leadership roles on campus. An important part of encouraging young women to step up and lead starts with participation in student government.

Elect Her: Campus Women Win, then called Campaign College, began in 2006 at American University to address a major imbalance: 62 percent of their student body was female, but women made up only 28 percent of the school’s student government. After the program began, women’s representation increased significantly. AAUW took the lead on Elect Her’s expansion in 2010 to leverage their national network of branches and college/university partners to maximize the reach of the program.

About India:

India joined Higher Learning Advocates as a Policy & Communications Program Associate in April 2018. India works closely with the policy and communications team where she supports policy and outreach through researching and monitoring legislation, outreach to advocates and partners working in higher education policy, and creating digital media content to expand the organization’s reach.

She previously served as a Program Coordinator at AccessLex Institute where she was responsible for assisting with policy and legislative affairs, conducting research on policy priorities, and providing administrative support to the policy team. During her time at the Institute, she co-authored a research brief on access to legal education. Prior to joining AccessLex Institute, India worked as a research assistant at a consulting firm in Bethesda, MD, interned with the Policy Research Team at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), served as an intern to North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield. Beyond her work at Higher Learning Advocates, she serves as co-chair of the Education Task Force for Women in Government Relations and Board Member of Legacy Prep. India holds a master’s degree in public policy from American University and a B.A. in political science from Campbell University.