Rep. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today praised the naming of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to the GOP presidential ticket, telling a gathering of high-school and college-aged women that they should vote and seek out leadership roles in politics.

“I’m very proud to have a woman on our side,” Capito told a daylong summit near the Republican convention site in St. Paul, Minn. The summit was sponsored by the Lifetime Networks and Cosmo Girl Magazine, to honor winners of Lifetime’s Future Frontrunners essay and video contest.

The summit emphasized the importance of getting women ages 18 to 22 to vote, and promotes women in leadership roles. Organizers invited female elected officials, journalists and advocates to share their ideas of what it means to be good leader.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) encouraged the young female participants to use their education in public service and to give back to their communities.

“We must clean up our homes, our towns and then our country,” Blackburn said.