“Where are all the women?” This is the question Councilwoman Kristi Campos asked herself before she decided to run for Wilmington, North Carolina, City Council.
Only three out of 20 candidates in the race were women, and Campos felt compelled to run for the seat. She was used to working behind the scenes on campaigns, but she decided to step out of her comfort zone and become the candidate.
This weekend at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, students joined together to learn about leadership and the political process at the Elect Her–Campus Women Win training. The day not only included dynamic and motivational speakers such as Campos, it also included interactive exercises for students to put their skills to the test.
Working at IBM, Campos is used to male-dominated environments. One student asked how she deals with discrimination.
“I don’t understand how women don’t rule the world; you just have to figure out how it works for you,” Campos replied. She encouraged students to find creative solutions when working in less-than-ideal situations and to never, ever say no to a project.
“I’ve never really thought about politics before, and this training pushed me out of my comfort zone,” said Michelle Fuller, a UNC Wilmington student. Fuller is a sociology major at UNCW’s satellite campus in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Even though public speaking is not her favorite thing to do, Elect Her–Campus Women Win’s elevator speech exercise gave her an opportunity to practice public speaking with her peers.
Next, students took their elevator speeches and hit the campus to ask for votes — just like candidates do — in the campaign simulation.
Jasmyn Ferbish, a UNCW senior, was shocked when she won the Elect Her campaign simulation with 31 votes. “I feel that the training was helpful both for upcoming students to expand women’s leadership on campus and for outgoing students to gain leadership skills in the workforce,” Ferbish said.
Cassie Hagstrom felt the training gave her leadership skills that would benefit her career. “I loved it, and it was very helpful. I gained skills that will help me better advocate for social work clients,” Hagstrom said.
Leadership was the topic of the day. From business to politics, students gained practical skills to be leaders on campus and in their careers. Being a public servant and a leader in your community isn’t always in your comfort zone, but students at UNCW learned why it’s important to take that step and serve as a leader.
This post was written by Women’s Campaign Forum Political Programs Manager Julie Daniels.
