Being apart of college student government not only looks good on a resume, but it can be the first step in a future career in government. This can be especially true for women in their student governments.

More than half the women in U.S. Congress held student government positions during their college years.

Elect Her-Campus Women Win, a nationwide program held on college campuses across the nation, aims to increase the number of women in student governments. 

Women currently occupy 45% of the executive positions, according to the American Association of University Women.

Elect Her officials have found that women hold leadership positions on campus, but not high profile positions, because they often feel they don’t have the skills or confidence to run a campaign. The program aims to change that.

This year, the program will go to 30 different campuses to train women to run for student government and to win elected positions after college.

The training is tailored to each individual schools individual student government and the training is transferrable down the line.

The training also includes how to network with different officials and how to maximize resources for a campaign. A communications expert explains how to best campaign for a position, and each woman gets to practice her “elevator speech.”

Since Elect Her started in 2008, the program has seen more women are in leadership roles, more women are running for executive office and the women on campus are better supporting each other.