Sharing her experience of as a voice for women, Josefina Vázquez Mota will speak on “One Woman’s Challenge: Competing for the Presidency of Mexico” at 6 p.m. on Feb. 26 in Jones Hall.

Vázquez Mota is the first woman to present a strong challenge for the presidency of Mexico. She will share her experience in the public arena, how she sees herself as an example for women on the world stage, lessons learned throughout her career and critical lessons for leadership demonstrated in her life. She also will discuss how young people play a role in politics.

“The young organized themselves and put forth their own agenda, challenging the politicians and candidates to respond to them,” she said. “This new situation, I am convinced, represents the greatest challenge for politics in our future. Not only to develop pertinent agendas which address what young people want, but also the mechanisms to really give opportunities for them to fruitfully participate in politics.”

She has held several key national positions, including Secretary to the Social Development Minister during Vicente Fox’s presidency and the Minister of Public Education during Felipe Calderόn’s presidency.  Labeling her cause “liberty freedom,” Vázquez Mota ran as a presidential candidate in 2012 for the Partido Acción Nacional, receiving more than 12.4 million votes.

Vázquez Mota is also the author of two books, one of which sold a half million copies. She has a degree in economics from Universidad Iberoamericana, a Jesuit university in Mexico City.

The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Office of the President, Cameron School of Business, Center for International Studies, and Department of Modern and Classical Languages.