Manel’s Inspire US journey: a story of inspiration
Manel once believed politics wasn’t for someone like her. Growing up, she loved the subject but felt it was distant, reserved for other people, not for people from backgrounds like hers. During the pandemic, at just 13 years old, she began exploring politics more seriously, but her network didn’t include others who shared her interests. Politics seemed “like a niche sort of idea,” and she even planned to study science, convinced a career in politics was out of reach.
Politics just didn’t seem accessible to someone from my background.
Although she joined the UK Youth Parliament as a hobby, Manel didn’t pursue her ambitions further until she discovered The Talent Foundry’s Inspire US programme. In 2024, she seized the opportunity to design a local social impact project, knowing that winning teams would travel to the United States to take part in the 2024 election campaign.
Inspire US – a “genuinely life-changing” experience
As part of her team at Preston Manor School, Manel helped lead a campaign raising awareness of period poverty and stigma. Her team shed light on what was considered a taboo topic, and their success earned them a place on the Inspire US trip to Washington, where she experienced the energy of political life first-hand. Over eight days, students from four UK schools joined campaigners in Washington and Pennsylvania, observing first-hand what it takes to win an election.
Their trip included visits to The White House and Capitol, alongside breakfast briefings, masterclasses with campaign teams, and practical lobbying and advocacy experiences. A highlight for Manel was attending the Kamala Harris rally on the eve of the US election, which she described as “surreal,” seeing organisers, campaigners and journalists working at the heart of democracy for the first time.
Inspire US completely changed that perspective for me.
Manel described how having this experience under the belt gave her the confidence to step into rooms she previously felt she didn’t belong in and the assurance that her voice had value. She came to realise that it’s sometimes the quietest voices that are the most valuable and became intent on working to make these voices heard.
Building foundations for a future in politics
Politics, which once felt so distant, suddenly felt real. She met people working in the very fields she admired and discovered that spaces she thought were closed to her were more accessible than she realised.
On returning to the UK after her US experience, Manel was inspired to apply to LSE, UCL and Cambridge to study Politics and International Relations. She is now studying HSPS (Human, Social and Political Science) at the University of Cambridge and harbours aspirations to work in the political sphere, amplifying the voices of those marginalised by social class, race and gender.
Inspire US is something that will stick with us forever.
Manel has since returned to her sixth form to talk about her life since leaving and her studies at Cambridge, tackling education inequality by opening doors for the next generation of students.
Stories like Manel’s are central to what we do at The Talent Foundry. We ensure that talent is always given the chance to thrive, and careers that might seem out of reach are demystified so that all young people can confidently explore a broad range of career paths.