During her time at UWC, Lene had the opportunity to develop her “strong interest in politics and international affairs,” which she acquired while working for Amnesty International prior to her attending Pearson College UWC. “During my UWC stay I got even more interested in politics, human rights and how to create free trade and more common goals,” she says.

After graduating from Pearson College UWC in 1984, Lene attended the University of Aarhus where she received a master's degree in Economics. From there, following a short stint in the private sector, she decided to campaign towards becoming a member of the first European Parliament, before turning her attention towards helping the citizens of her hometown in the North of Denmark. She explains, “I thought Danish politics needed more well-educated young women, and decided to give it a try.”

As it turns out, her election as a member of the Danish Parliament in 1994 was just the beginning. Lene went on to serve as an MP in Denmark for 20 years, while also fulfilling roles such as Minister of Justice, Minister of Business & Economy, Conservative Party Leader, Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs along the way. Her work in these roles offered her many opportunities to influence the global state of affairs that surrounded her, including the fight against international terrorism, widespread human rights issues, and institutional politics within the United Nations, to name a few; in addition, she played an active role in the political sphere at a more local level through her work in European Union Policy, the vast Agricultural sector, as well as the development of the Danish Defense system and its security status abroad. Her time at UWC helped her realize the potential she had to influence real change on our world, especially through these highly significant roles she played in international affairs. “UWC created a huge interest in international politics,” she says, “and also created a huge urge deep inside of me for fighting the totalitarian regimes in eastern Europe, Communist China and the rest of the world where people were not free. I think you have an obligation to act if you think change is necessary. If you stay 'on the couch' and do nothing, don't expect things to improve.”

While Lene currently serves as the CEO of the Association of Danish Architectural Companies, where she utilizes her vast political experience to benefit a new area of the public sector, she will never forget the influence that UWC and its core values had on her decorated career as a politician.

“I do not think I would have ended up in politics being so compassionate about change if I hadn't experienced the tolerance and international understanding at UWC. It made the rest of the world much more important/closer to me because I had friends all across our globe.

I think that it made a difference, especially as Secretary of state/foreign minister, that I had a more genuine interest in understanding and respecting other cultures.”