Innovation Award: End of Year Celebration
Last Friday, 52 judges, mentors and supporters of the Innovation Award gathered at Bloomberg for the End of Year Celebration, an intimate event that highlighted the power of our networked approach to supporting innovation. Discussions sparked practical ideas for innovation for systems change, nurturing future leaders, and breaking down silos. The energy in the room reflected generosity and a shared commitment to “gang up on the problem”.
As Award winner Alaya put it: “We don’t see ourselves as individual innovators anymore - we are change makers in an ecosystem. Together, we are all the Alliance.”
Over the past year, our 2024 Award Winners reached 1,200+ schools, trained 4,000 educators, supported 8,000+ young people and raised £482,000 to drive their impactful work - proving that lasting change happens when collaboration takes centre stage.
Together, we celebrated their achievements while also introducing our new strategy, Neighbourhood to National, and our future approach to innovation. As part of this, we’re launching Collective Strength – opening up our methodology, insights, and networks more widely across the system. Through activities such as Working Groups, Leadership Programmes, and Training & Workshops, we’re providing tailored support, peer learning, and practical tools to help members drive change.
🎥 Watch this short film to find out more about the Innovation Award winners year of incubation
Highlights from our winners:
Aspiring Medics - Yusuf Ben-Tarifite and Yasmin Baker: 92% of their students secured at least one medical school offer through AI-supported mentoring.
Body Happy Org - Molly Forbes: Transformed school culture through body respect, empowering students to speak up and strengthen relationships.
Firefly Project - Jenna Maudlin: Boosted empathy in 90% of participants and scaled grief education through co-design in 1,000+ schools.
Early Years Movement - Charly Young: Brought leaders together across sectors to change mindsets and reshape the narrative around men in Early Years education.
First Gens - Alaya Holloway: Opened higher education pathways for first-generation students via mentoring, peer networks, and a national UCAS partnership.
PLACE (Tees Valley Education) - Sean Harris: Supported 1,200+ young people locally while shaping national policy on child poverty and authoring a bestseller on tackling disadvantage.
