The AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards, which were held December 9 2022 at the five star Biltmore Hotel in London, 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 210 business school leaders, as well as category finalists, judges and members of the media.
The winners in the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards’ 10 categories were as follows:
Best Innovation Strategy 2022/23 in association with Barco
TBS Education (France) for ‘The Blind Search (TBS)’
‘The Blind Search’ was inspired by the reality singing competition ‘The Voice’, to engage, motivate, surprise and entertain students, and celebrate their return to classrooms amidst the pandemic restrictions in France.
The aim was to introduce edutainment (educational entertainment) and consider educational wellbeing in the teaching pedagogy for the research methods course (and similar theoretical courses) and make it truly student centric. Such unique pedagogical innovation opens new paradigms for designing and delivering courses post pandemic, creating the right balance between using digital tools and inspiration from the entertainment industry to enhance students’ classroom learning experiences.
Best Lifelong Learning Initiative 2022/23, in association with Kortext
Universidad Externado de Colombia (Colombia) for ‘Privilegios Program’
Privilegios program was created with the aim of enhancing relationships between students, graduates, the business world and the business school. Graduates find a source of updating and generating a network of contacts for their development and strengthening of skills.
The operating model involves an investment by the school to provide the services that are offered at no cost. The program registered a participation of around 1,000 people representing seventy per cent of the MBA graduates.
Lastly, this initiative has been highlighted as a strength in the AMBA and AACSB accreditation processes.
Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative 2022/23
School of Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (China) for ‘Training Global Talent with CSR Competency and a Sense of Sustainability’
The School of Business (SoB), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies endeavours to train business talents with SMILE (Social Responsibility, Mutual Respect, Integrity, Learning by Doing and Entrepreneurship) values – who pay great attention to the social challenges and ethical issues.
CSR and sustainability are strongly embedded in curriculum, research and extracurricular activities, and great achievements have been made. SoB faculty integrates Confucianism into blended learning activities, which is highly praised by students and has won a provincial-level excellent education prize.
Best Business School Partnership 2022/23
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands) with Dutch Brazilian Chambers
Dutcham and the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), developed a Talent Academy that brings together young professionals from the Dutch business community in Brazil. Twenty four talented people have been selected from top Dutch companies operating in Brazil in order to share expertise, crack a business case, and grow their personal and business skillset.
The collaboration with RSM was a strategic choice in order to help the Dutch business community in Brazil to develop real leadership among local talents, create an open mind, and ultimately grow young Brazilian professionals into future business leaders with a sustainability-focused mindset.
Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative 2022/23
School of Business, the American University in Cairo (AUC)
With the progressive objective of accelerating and improving the gender balance of corporate boards in Egypt and the MENA region, the Auc Egypt Women On Boards (Wob) Observatory defies the odds by fostering women’s readiness for boards and eliminating barriers to entry. The initiative aims to sensitize male board members to gender issues and advocate for policy and legislative changes that institutionalize gender diversity in organizations.
Disrupting explicit and implicit gender bias patterns, the Egypt WoB observatory continues to achieve a scalable and replicable impact that crosses borders and resonates with the national, regional, and global commitments to gender diversity and inclusion.
BGA Business School Impact Award 2022/23
Athena School of Management (India)
The world has changed in the past 24 months in more ways than predicted with great opportunities and deep challenges. Technology has become both an enabler and disruptor but the challenges of income inequality, food shortages, adverse climate change, pseudo-nationalism, inflation and war are all clear and present.
As a believer in Impact Leadership – Athena is taking a clear focused path to inspire and innovate internal and external stakeholders to make an impact on people, profit & planet underpinned by their deep commitment to ESG, SDGs, Sustainable Finance and Digital Transformation to help stakeholders across the Global South.
MBA Startup of the Year 2022/23
Damien Demoor, Audencia Business School (France) for GREENOV
Damien Demoor graduated from École des Mines de Paris, École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie and Audenciaʼs Executive MBA. He has over 20 years of experience in managing operational teams and has strong skills in business and innovation. Created in January 2021, Greenov develops disruptive maritime CleanTech, including the SubSea Quieter, to protect marine ecosystems. Offshore wind turbines, currently undergoing rapid development, cause powerful acoustic disturbances severely impacting fish, cetaceans and molluscs for miles around. The SubSea Quieter, carbon-free technology, reduces 99% of noise emissions. Highly anticipated by the maritime industry, it will be commercialised in 2024.
MBA Entrepreneur of the Year 2022/23
Jérôme Pasquet, Audencia Business School (France) for PEEK’IN and Jinlong Ming, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) for Anhui Conch New Materials Technology
When Jérôme Pasquet launched Peek’in in 2017, it was not his first entrepreneurial venture. He had just exited a 5-year project during which he successfully launched D-Vine, a wine-by-the-glass machine for hotels and restaurants. The hotel industry continues to be his schoolyard. After selling part of his D-Vine shares, Jérôme entered a hidden market with huge potential: returning forgotten items to their owners, a tedious task that hoteliers are reluctant to perform. The Peek’in solution is simple, easy to sell and applicable worldwide. It is also on its way to revolutionising a blind spot in the hotel industry.
Jinlong Ming graduated from School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) with a MBA degree in 2021. He is a senior economist and an excellent entrepreneur. In May 2018, Anhui Conch New Materials Technology Co., Ltd was set up and Jinlong is one of the main founders. With 20 years’ deep engagement in cement admixture industry, he has got successful achievements in innovative business strategy. He owns 5 inventions and utility model patents, and participates in drafting 1 national industry standard as the main author which impact a lot in the concrete admixtures industry.
MBA Leadership Award 2022/23
Kerry McLaverty, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland)
Completion of an MBA at UCD Smurfit was the springboard which catapult a Chartered Physiotherapist at Irelandʼs only childrenʼs hospice to becoming its new Chief Executive Officer in just 3 years. In turbulent times and in less than 2 years since assuming the CEO role, Kerry has capitalized on her MBA learnings to oversee record fundraising revenues for LauraLynn year-on-year.
Furthermore, for the first time in the organization’s history, she has secured a historic €1.5million in annual statutory funding, enabling the expansion of hospice services and the development of the first Childrenʼs Hospice Regional Hub in Ireland.
MBA Student of the Year 2022/23
Fardod O’Kelly, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland)
A trailblazer in his field, Fardod O’Kelly is a true inspiration who has achieved an incredible amount whilst undertaking his Executive MBA at Smurfit, in addition to an Advanced Diploma in Medical Law, whilst continuing to practice medicine and progress his professional goals. With his new business acumen, he has developed a thriving new surgical practice during COVID, and a new public/private partnership to allow access to surgery for children in the west/south of Ireland. Furthermore, he has been invited onto several European urological boards as an expert in his field and he has continued to research and publish.
Andrew Main Wilson, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs and Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA), said: “On behalf of the AMBA and Business Graduates Association (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 networks achievements in person at our Gala Dinner – our first in person awards ceremony since 2020.
“I also want to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors Barco and Kortext. 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 – e.buchan@associationofmbas.com
Awards selection process
The finalists were shortlisted by AMBA & BGA’s senior management team. Our judges reviewed 59 shortlisted entries, selecting a winner and a highly commended 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.
More information about the categories and complete list of the winners and highly commended
Best Innovation Strategy 2022, in association with Barco
The Best Innovation Strategy award is a celebration of innovation and radical thinking in business education delivery across all areas of the business school and has been developed to recognise and reward game-changing new practices, risks, and creativity.
Winner
- TBS Education (France) for ‘The Blind Search (TBS)’
Highly commended
- Wrexham Glyndŵr University (UK) for ‘North Wales Business School Simulation Suite’
Finalists
- University of Leicester School of Business (UK) for ‘Online Sustainability Challenge (OSC)’
- Shantou University Business School (China) for ‘Innovation in Teaching, Assessment and Social Responsibility’
Best Lifelong Learning Initiative 2022, in association with Kortext
The Best Lifelong Learning Initiative award recognises the efforts of business schools that are reinventing teaching and learning among students, graduates, alumni networks and custom and executive education.
Winner
- Universidad Externado de Colombia (Colombia) for ‘Privilegios Program’
Highly commended
- Shantou University Business School (China) for ‘The lifelong learning platform of the MBA Education Center’
Finalists
- School of Business, the American University in Cairo (Egypt) for ‘Community-based learning Econ 3071’
- Berlin Professional School, Berlin School of Economics and Law (Germany) for ‘Learning outside the classroom: events and initiative, and the Synthetic Hybrid Online Model’
Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative 2022/23
The Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative award honours business schools that are taking the initiative in creating a sustainable future and teaching students about social values, as well as making a positive impact in practical and measurable ways.
It gives Schools a chance to showcase their innovative and original CSR and sustainability initiatives on a global stage.
Winner
- School of Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (China) for ‘Training Global Talent with CSR Competency and a Sense of Sustainability’
Highly commended
- School of Business, the American University in Cairo (Egypt) for ‘Hack 22’
- Audencia Business School (France) for ‘Gaïa by Audencia: a school for social and ecological transition’
Finalists
- MCI The Entrepreneurial School (Austria) for ‘MCI Earth Day 2022’
- POLIMI Graduate School of Management (Italy) for ‘Training initiatives to support Ukrainian students in dealing with these difficult times and to be prepared to rebuild their country’
Best Business School Partnership 2022/23
The Best Business School Partnership award recognises organisations that have adopted a proactive, innovative approach to strategic collaboration. Partnerships can, for example, be with another business school/group of Schools, an employer, a consultant, education partner or technology provider, a social impact group, an individual, a charity, or another organisation.
Winner
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands) with Dutch Brazilian Chambers
Highly commended
- Dongwu Business School, Soochow University (China) with Soochow Securities
- POLIMI Graduate School of Management (Italy) with The Mind At Work
Finalists
- AESE Business School (Portugal) with PwC Portugal
- UPF Barcelona School of Management, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) (Spain) with CaixaBank
- Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa (Canada) with Kinaxis
Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative 2022/23
The Best Culture, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative award recognises business schools and the work they have been doing to create, incorporate and develop culture, diversity and inclusion practices into their Business School, while balancing and involving fair working environments.
Winner
- School of Business, the American University in Cairo (AUC)
Highly commended
- Essex Business School, University of Essex
Finalists
- Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (China)
- Graduate School of Business, Almaty Management University (AlmaU)
BGA Business School Impact Award 2022/23
This award is designed to offer a platform through which BGA member, validated, and accredited Schools can demonstrate their stakeholder impact – encompassing students and graduates as well as the wider communities in which they operate. Such impact can be demonstrated through programme design, social outreach programmes, alumni relations, careers services and so on.
Winner
- Athena School of Management (India)
Highly commended
- Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands)
Finalists
- Wrexham Glyndwr University (UK)
- Arden University (UK)
MBA Startup of the Year 2022/23
The MBA Startup of the year Award encourages and promotes the value of startup business strategy and innovation, in the current competitive climate and showcases its importance in the global market.
The MBA Startup of the Year award is open to both private and public sectors. This award is designed to celebrate innovative business strategy – taking something from idea to action. Judges will be more interested in the idea and potential of the venture, and its plans, rather than any financial or monetary results in the early stage.
Winner
- Damien Demoor, Audencia Business School (France) for GREENOV
Highly commended
- Ravi Ranjan, Aston Business School, Aston University (UK) for Voilo
- Ingrid Briggiler, School of Business, Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina) for NUME: Nuevo Método
Finalists
- William Clarke, Graduate School of Management, University of Auckland Business School (New Zealand) for Learn English Live
- Luca Renzi, POLIMI Graduate School of Management (Italy) for iZ Renewable Luxury – Società Benefit
- Brian Marrinan, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland) for Team ABC Ventures
MBA Entrepreneur of the Year 2022/23
The MBA Entrepreneur of the Year award celebrates the achievements of successful alumni in innovative world-class business strategy, but also showcases business schools that are nurturing a spirit of enterprise and ambition.
This award is a fantastic way to highlight the success of accredited business schools that promote entrepreneurship in their MBA cohorts. The award is also a chance for individuals to impress high-profile judges who are already at the forefront of global entrepreneurship.
The MBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award is one of the most distinguished awards in the industry. AMBA has developed the MBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award to encourage and promote the value of entrepreneurship in the current competitive climate and to highlight its importance in the global market.
Winner
- Jérôme Pasquet, Audencia Business School (France) for PEEK’IN
- Jinlong Ming, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) for Anhui Conch New Materials Technology
Highly commended
- Vishal Tilak, Milpark Business School (South Africa) for Avapro
- Oluwaseun Funmilayo Alley, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria) for Fez
Finalists
- Michael John Magdongon, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands) for Strabo
- Isabel Sousa Pereira, Porto Business School, University of Porto (Portugal) for LAKS
MBA Leadership Award 2022/23
The MBA Leadership Award will honour alumni from AMBA-accredited Business Schools who have been making an impact in the business world following their graduation.
The award will recognise the great work of these graduates through their achievements, performance, and recognition. This important award will give graduates the chance to stand out and showcase their work following graduation.
Winner
- Kerry McLaverty, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (Ireland)
Highly commended
- Dalia Mohamed Ibrahim, School of Business, the American University in Cairo (Egypt
- Kush Kanodia, Kent Business School, University of Kent (UK)
Finalist
- Erik Hiep, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow (UK)
- Che Jianxing, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (China)
MBA Student of the Year 2022/23
AMBA’s MBA Student of the Year Award plays a pivotal role in supporting AMBA’s pledge to promote the MBA as the leading international business qualification.
The MBA Student of the Year Award recognises students who have shown exceptional career potential and who AMBA believes can act as ambassadors for the high quality of accredited MBAs and the opportunities these programmes provide for students from a wide range of different personal and professional backgrounds.
This award doesn’t just reward ‘straight-A’ students but also focuses on leadership potential and career progression.
Winner
- Fardod O’Kelly, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin
Highly commended
- Miriam Bazan Peregrino, ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University (Spain)
- Nkem Marian Igwe, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester (UK)
Finalists
- Chiamaka Ibeh, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria)
- Aveek Choudhury, Indian Institute of Management Indore (India)
- Darren Evans, Kent Business School, University of Kent (UK)
