I can participate in influencing society

Written By Kåre Melhus

Lucas Boström from Åland, the Finish island community in the Baltic Sea, participated in the Zebr Leadership training program in 2024-2025. The most important lesson he took away from Zebr was that changes are not as difficult to create as one might think; you only need to try. «Zebr also taught me that I have some ownership to the society that I live in and therefore I can participate in influencing it», Lucas says.

He emphasises that he learned a lot about himself and was able to see what his two main life goals were:  To help people to develop and grow and to develop growth in organizations and businesses.  «Zebr taught me much about myself, and how I can use my God-given resources to influence society in a positive way», Lucas says.

Right now, he studies organizational psychology and leadership at Kristiania University College in Bergen, Norway. His wife Ramona, who participated in the Zebr event in Brussels in May 2025, studies to be a schoolteacher at Vestland University College, also in Bergen. Upon graduation they plan to settle on Lucas´ family farm in Åland, as a start. But once there, they want to participate in the building of a vibrant church and to create business opportunities for people.

Some 30.000 people live in Åland. Two types of business dominate; fishing related industry and agriculture. There are few, if any Christian businesses, Lucas tells me. In Bergen he is part of the Hauge Business Network.  Every Tuesday they pray for their participating businesses.  “Yesterday, I think the Lord spoke to me and reminded me that we could pray for the secular businesses in Åland, just as the Hauge Business Network prays for the Christian members,” Lucas says.

He leads the Zebr online Faith and Work program. Here he is monthly in touch with Zebr alumni and partners, as they discuss questions arising from a study program on Faith and Work that they are part of.

This article is part of the "«Where are they now» - series, introducing alumni from the Zebr European Leadership Program, run annually by the Zebr Institute.

Kåre Melhus

Kåre is a retired Norwegian journalist and journalism educator. After serving as a journalist and a newsroom manager for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) for many years, he served as an associate professor at the NLA University College in Kristiansand, Norway, where he taught journalism both at the BA and MA level for 18 years. During that time Kåre was also part of a team which established MA degree programs in journalism in Ethiopia, Kosovo and Uganda. He holds a MA degree in journalism from University of Missouri, and a BA in sociology from Trinity College, Illinois.

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