MARQUETTE, Mich.— A free conference encouraging young people, especially women, to assume campus leadership roles and run for elected office on and off campus is being provided by Northern Michigan University. The “Elect Her” Conference will be held from noon to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in the University Center Pioneer Rooms.

            “We’re training women to bridge the gender leadership gap by starting early,” said Linda D. Hallman, American Association of University Women executive director, in a press release. “By encouraging and supporting more women to be political leaders on their own campuses, we are helping to set them up for success in leadership roles later.”

            Since 2008, AAUW and the Running Start program have worked together to encourage college women to run for student government. Building on their initial successes, the organizations launched the Elect Her training program in 2010 and the effort is already yielding results for college women. NMU conference attendees have had a 100 percent success rate in running for student government positions since the conference began in 2010.

"By encouraging young women to run for student government during their college years, we are confident that we are preparing more women for local, state and federal office candidacy," said NMU conference coordinator, Judy Puncochar.

Pre-registration is requested by Feb. 14 and can be done by emailing Christine Wilson at chriwils@nmu.edu. Registration at the door will also be available. Learn more at www.nmu.edu/ElectHer.