Seven-year-old Ambika Athreya walked to the front of Benton Auditorium with a shy smile on her face and a flyer in her hand that advertised Shirley Chisholm’s speech on Friday night.

She approached Chisholm and asked softly for her autograph. Then she shook hands with the woman.

Athreya was just one of the members of the audience who was pleased with Chisholm’s speech.

Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress, received a standing ovation from about 250 people who attended her speech, “Who Speaks for Us? Women and the Political Agenda,” at the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics fifth annual spring conference.

Chisholm said with 51 percent of the U.S. population being women, women “can no longer be squeamish.”

In 1972, Chisholm sought the bid for the Democratic Party nomination for President.

She said people laughed at her and misunderstood her, but she persisted because she had confidence in herself and faith in God.

She said she felt it was time for a woman to be president and knew somebody had to “start the ball rolling.”

Chisholm said there will be a woman president within 10-12 years but said there has to be a woman vice president first. In their bid for political positions, she said women are their own worst enemies.

“This is no time, ladies, to be shy,” she said. “Whatever you do, do your best deeds looking to no man for approval for what you do.”

Instead she urged women to look to God and themselves.

“I look to an America when women are accepted as women, not as men with missing parts,” she said. “I look to the feminization of America in terms of the priority of peace and justice, a nation where reason guides our daily lives,” she added.

Chisholm also stressed the importance of networking, a new way for women to gain happiness and succeed in society.

“Network through thought; network through action; network through love. You are the center of the network. You are a free, immensely powerful force and you don’t even know it,” she said. “You will see a miracle happen — the greatness of your own life.”

Chisholm said “you can be what you want to be,” with faith, commitment, concern, compassion and confidence in yourself.

She said four people had a terrific impact on her life. She said she draws courage from Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman.

She was also encouraged as a youth by Eleanor Roosevelt. When she was 15, she said she won a debate prize in New York City, and Roosevelt congratulated her and told her, “Remember this: Don’t let anyone stop you. You’re going to do some great things in this country. I feel it.”

The fourth person who had an impact on her was her maternal grandmother. Chisholm lived in Barbados from age three until she was 10.

In Barbados, her grandmother helped teach her to read and write and made her do homework at the kitchen table. She also taught her to walk erect.

“Child don’t come with any bent shoulders. Stand up; let the world see you coming,” she said her grandmother used to tell her.

Iowa Lt. Gov. Joy Corning, who introduced Chisholm, said Chisholm “embodies the realization of opportunities upon which this country was founded.”

Corning, who has introduced Chisholm on two other occasions, said she has been quoting Chisholm for years.

“She touched on a lot of points that most speakers are afraid to talk about,” said Kandis Boyd, vice president of the Ames alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

Deja James, a charter member of the chapter, said she is impressed Chisholm is still going strong after being “in the struggle for so long” and still has so much energy.

A reception in Chisholm’s honor was held afterwards, sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta sorority, of which Chisholm is a pledge member.