How does the representation of marginalized communities influence their political participation and their ability to overcome barriers to representation?Analyzing natural experiments from Mexico, in which a party uses lotteries to select candidates for public office, this presentation discusses two research projects that offer new insights into how representation shapes the political participation of underrepresented segments of society. The first paper explores how the representation by politicians from specific communities influence these communities’ political participation. It shows that participation in subsequent elections is significantly higher among constituents who have been represented by randomly selected legislators with a similar social background who are part of local organizational networks (embedded representatives). The second paper tracks the subsequent career advancement of the candidates who participated in these lotteries to investigate how opportunities to gain political experience influence the representation of women in politics. Whereas the literature often attributes women’s underrepresentation in elected office to voter discrimination and low levels of political ambition, this paper shows instead that limited opportunities to gain early political experience shape the emergence and success of female candidates. It finds that women who have gained initial experience in office (at random) are much more likely to seek and attain subsequent elected positions than men who have held similar office or women without such experiences. The findings highlight the importance of community embeddedness for political mobilization and early political experiences in overcoming gender disparities among candidates and elected officials and have important implications for broader debates about democratic inclusion and representation.​