DES MOINES, Iowa — Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday in as president of the United States and Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president.
Harris becomes the first woman, first woman of color, first Black woman and the first South Asian woman ever to hold the office.
Community members told Local 5 the titles make them proud and hopeful for the future of the country.
Ashley Stewart is a member of the Iota Zeta Mega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, a sorority Harris is also a part of. She said thinking about Harris' swearing-in ceremony is "really exciting and really monumental."
Growing up, Stewart said she expected one day a woman of color would hold a top position in the government, but never knew when or if she would see it during her lifetime.
Now that Stewart has a daughter, she hopes Harris is able to give her and other children the confidence to know anything is possible.
"For me to show my little girl that there's someone who looks like her in the White House helping out the President change the nation, that's something that can't be quantified," Stewart said. "And every time she's on screen, I'll make sure that I tell my daughter Alexandria to pay attention."
Ebonee Woods, the secretary for the Des Moines Branch of NAACP, said Harris becoming Vice President is monumental.
"Being able to see someone who has worked her way up through different offices and made differences and impact in each one of those offices, and now she's assuming the second-highest office in our nation ... that comes with a lot of introspection as a Black woman in America," Woods said.
"It's a trajectory and path that has now been lit."
WATCH: Kamala Harris sworn in as vice president of the United States
Woods also noted with a woman now holding one of the top positions in the United States, it could become a teaching moment for young boys.
"I also think that this will be an amazing time for young men to see a woman in a position of power and understand that, that is a normal thing," Woods said.
Woods also hopes when Kamala Harris, a name that was ridiculed at points on the campaign trail, assumes her role, she will help destigmatize names that are considered different.
"Let's embrace new ideas of what it means to have a unique name," Woods said.
And Stewart is hopeful that now a group of women she believes have been voiceless for years have an advocate to help them be heard.
"She comes from that history of being an African American woman, being raised in America," Stewart said.
"She knows what it feels like and so I think she brings that thought process to the table."
"Kamala Harris did not have a blueprint for where she is right now. But she has created one," said Deidre DeJear, who chaired Harris' 2020 presidential campaign in Iowa. "When she says 'I vow never to be the last. I may be the first of many things, but I won't be the last', she means that. She has created a blueprint for women who are interested in investing their time and their energy into our political system, where women rightfully ought to be."
"Now Kamala Harris has shown us how you get there."
Full interview: Deidre DeJear on historic swearing in of VP Kamala Harris