UCL School of Management, University College London scooped the coveted Best Lifelong Learning Initiative – in association with Canvas by Instructure, at the world-renowned Association of MBA’s (AMBA) and Business Graduates Association (BGA) Excellence Awards 2024 for UCL MBA labs.
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 Best Lifelong Learning Initiative is designed to recognise the efforts of AMBA & BGA schools that are reinventing teaching and learning among students, graduates, alumni networks and custom and executive education.
The winning entries will showcase the impact and success these initiatives have had not only to students but also to the business school.
The Sustainability Lab, Analytics Lab, and Digital Hack make up the core of the UCL MBAʼs Lab initiatives, that bring MBA alumni and current students from across UCL together with industry leaders. Each Lab runs their own projects that invite participants to engage with issues in collaboration with different businesses. The design allows businesses to look to academia to aid their challenges, and students and alumni to engage with real-world practical issues, beyond their degree. Most importantly alumni provide the network and foundation of the design, by returning their businesses to the labs, continuing a cycle of life-long learning.
Professor Davide Ravasi, Director of the UCL School of Management said: “Congratulations to Dr Jim Berry, who directs the MBA programme, and to those colleagues leading our UCL Sustainability Lab, Analytics Lab, and Digital Hack: Tom Weston, Dr Karima Dyussekeneva and Dr Rikke Duus.
“This is another great set of initiatives at the intersection of our (UCL School of Management’s) foundational pillars – technology, innovation, analytics, entrepreneurship – and some of the grand challenges we all face today.”
Stephan Fortier, Regional Vice President, Canvas by Instructure, said “The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards offer a remarkable opportunity to honour outstanding individuals and business schools that have demonstrated notable impact through their programmes. The team at Instructure was delighted to have played a role in evaluating the exceptional nominations and would like to congratulate the well-deserved winners. We were especially proud to sponsor the Best Lifelong Learning Initiative which we see as being hugely important, not only for learners in business school education but more widely as a way for people to improve their prospects through education.
“As a strategic technology partner to business schools globally, our goal is to meet the evolving needs of these institutions and provide the best teaching and learning experience. Events like the Excellence Awards and our wider partnership with AMBA & BGA allow us to partner closely with those driving innovation forward, as we together leverage technology to improve education.”
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 it’s 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 catalyst
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)
