UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin graduate Lorna Conn wins prestigious Postgraduate Leadership Award 2024 in the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards
Lorna Conn, a graduate from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin, has won the coveted Postgraduate Leadership Award 2024.
The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2024 were held on January 19, 2024, at the exceptional Park Plaza London Riverbank. The Awards brought together leading lights from the global business education community to celebrate excellence and commend achievement among business schools, MBA students and graduates, suppliers, and employers.
The ceremony was attended by more than 200 business school leaders, as well as category finalists, judges and members of the media.
The Postgraduate Leadership Award honours alumni from AMBA & BGA business schools who have been making an impact in the business world following their graduation.
The award recognises the inspirational work of these graduates through their achievements, performance, and recognition.
Lorna Conn is a powerful figure in Irish business. In January 2022 Lorna became CEO of Cpl, Ireland’s largest talent solutions company, with over 13,000 employees, operating in 47 offices across 13 countries. In March 2023 she was appointed to the Executive Committee of Cplʼs parent company – Tokyo listed OUTSOURCING Inc (‘OSIʼ) and is the only serving female.
Lorna is Senior Managing Executive Officer of the Overseas Technology Business with regional oversight of UK and Oceania, in addition to her Cpl role. OSI operates in 39 countries worldwide, has 250+ sister companies and employs more than 130,000 people worldwide.
Lorna Conn said of her win, “It is a real honour to win this award. It was such a privilege to study at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and I am so grateful for my time there. I see firsthand the power of a good education and I really do believe it is one of life’s great levellers. It was an important part of the route to my roles with Cpl and with OUTSOURCING Inc of which I am very proud. It is wonderful to be recognised with an award like this from my peers and I am incredibly grateful.”
Professor Anthony Brabazon, Dean of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, said, “Lorna is an outstanding business leader who has had global impact in her sector. She is also an outstanding role model for our current students. We are immensely proud of her achievements as an alumna of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business and she is most deserving of this award.”
Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA) said: “On behalf of the AMBA and BGA team, I would like to congratulate the finalists and winners of this year’s Excellence Awards.
“This year, the competition was stronger than ever. The entries who have made the final shortlist in each category should feel proud of their achievements.
“Additionally, the students and graduates who have been shortlisted as finalists today have all used their qualifications to achieve a spectrum of impressive results, in terms of the positive impact they have made to business, education and society as a whole.
“It was thrilling to be able to celebrate the AMBA network’s achievements at this glamorous Gala Dinner – in particular its been amazing to celebrate exceptional innovations and successes in the higher management education industry.
“I also want to take the opportunity to thank our partners, Kortext, Canvas by Instructure, Cesim Business Simulations, Perlego and BlueSky Education. Their support for our awards – and the business education sector – is greatly appreciated.”
ENDS
For more information or interviews, please contact:
- Ellen Buchan, Insight, Content & PR Manager, AMBA & BGA – buchan@associationofmbas.com
Awards selection process:
The finalists were shortlisted by AMBA & BGA’s senior management team. A panel of judges then reviewed the shortlisted entries, selecting a winner and a highly commended entry for each award. Our judging panel is made up of AMBA board members, business experts, deans and management leaders.
All of our judges were selected based on their experience and qualifications.
The winners and highly commended entries can be seen here.
Best Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative 2024, in association with BlueSky Education
Winner
- ESADE Business School (Spain) for MBA elective: racial (in)justice
Highly commended
- Centrum Católica, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru) for Mujer, que tu negocio crezca más (Woman, may your business grow more)
- SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) for People with disabilities and employment: beyond the barriers
Best Business School Partnership Award 2024, in association with Perlego
Winner
- Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham (UK) with Deloitte
Highly commended
- Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow (UK) with Common Mission Project
- Monash Business School, Monash University (Australia) with Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals
Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative 2024, in association with Cesim Business Simulations
Winner
- EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) for Social impact strategy and EGADE action week
Highly commended
- Mannheim Business School (Germany) and ESSEC Business School (France) for LESPRIT – Lebanon solar power and light project
- POLIMI Graduate School of Management (Italy) for Innova Europe 2023
- Shantou University Business School (China) for Rural revitalisation programme
Best Lifelong Learning Initiative 2024, in association with Canvas by Instructure
Winner
- UCL School of Management, University College London (UK) for UCL MBA labs
Best Innovation Strategy Award 2024, in association with Kortext
Winner
- Manchester Metropolitan University Business School (UK) for Innovation in employability – a strengths approach to personal and professional development
Highly commended
- Woxsen University (India) for Financial literacy workshop for underprivileged youth
BGA Business School Impact Award 2024
Winner
- ESLSCA University (Egypt) for ESLSCA’s MBA governmental programme: transforming government public officials into change catalysts
Highly commended
- Indian Institute of Management Indore (India) for IIM Indoreʼs horticulture cell
- School of Economics and Management, Dongguan University of Technology (China) for Smart against fraud and the old friends academy
Start-Up of the Year Award 2024
Winner
- Puneet Saini, University of Canterbury Business School (New Zealand) for Script Sense
Highly commended
- Georges Acar, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick (UK) for Inquizyt
- Marita Sanchez de la Cerda, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland) for SAIZ
Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2024
Winner
- Gaetano Lapenta, POLIMI Graduate School of Management (Italy) for Fybra
Highly commended
- Alexandra Mendoza, Universidad del Norte (Colombia) for Liquitech
- Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Nottingham University Business School (UK) for Trust Impact
- Trai Sasatavadhana, Chulalongkorn Business School, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand) for Tasted Better
Postgraduate Leadership Award 2024
Winner
- Lorna Conn, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland)
Highly commended
- Alex Athanassoulas, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow (UK)
- Ayodeji Balogun, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria)
AMBA Student of the Year Award 2024
Winner
- Sonya Bachra-Byrne, University of Bradford School of Management (UK)
Highly commended
- Aditi Singh Bais, Indian Institute of Management Indore (India)
- Elizabeth Woods, Cranfield School of Management (UK)
- James Boyce, The Open University Business School (UK)
BGA Student of the Year Award 2024
Winner
- May Al-Amir, ESLSCA University (Egypt)
