Lujam Okello’s mentorship journey was defined by a change in self-perception: from student to emerging professional with something to contribute.
As a UK student, Lujam found that her semester abroad in Austria, from March to June 2026, became more than an academic placement. It gave her distance to question Britain from the outside: what it means to be young there now, and whether the country delivers on the ambitions it tells young people to hold.
That question became the subject of her latest article in the UK publication The Young Politician (24 August 2026), titled “What My Semester Abroad Taught Me About Britain’s Broken Promise To Young People.” The article argues that being abroad unsettled assumptions she hadn’t realized she was carrying, and forced a harder look at what her generation is actually being offered.
The more telling change isn’t that she published an article. It’s how she now uses her own experience to make an argument, rather than simply to describe one. During her mentorship, Lujam drafted a position paper on why no woman has held the role of UN Secretary-General, refined her professional area-of-interest statement, built an elevator pitch, and started writing with publication in mind.
In her Impact Leaders Mentorship Programme testimonial, the change comes through in her own words: “A student writes to complete an assignment. A professional writes to contribute to a field.”
That distinction now shows in Lujam’s work. No longer writing because it is required, she’s using writing to stake out a position and enter the conversation in politics and international relations. She has a claim to a seat at the table, not someone waiting to be let in.
Acknowledgement: Ralph Farrow, Founder, The Young Politician