Enterprise Educators UK (EEUK) recognised excellence in enterprise education at the National Enterprise Educator Awards 2020 on Friday September 11^th, at an online ceremony held within EEUK’s International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference – IEECOnline. The National Enterprise Educator Awards recognise excellence within enterprise and entrepreneurship education in UK higher and further education institutions. The awards aim to reward and celebrate those who have demonstrated an exceptional and inspirational commitment to supporting student and graduate enterprise and entrepreneurship. The winning individuals and teams will receive a prize fund of £500 to further develop their work in the sector.

This year, EEUK has redeveloped the awards, adding a number of new categories. There are now six categories in total:

Enterprise Catalyst – an individual or team from Higher or Further Education who are delivering exceptional enterprise education or practice inside or outside of the curriculum.

Entrepreneurship Catalyst – an individual or team from Higher or Further Education who are delivering exceptional entrepreneurship education or practice inside or outside the curriculum.

Rising Star in Enterprise Education – an exceptional individual at the early stage of their enterprise or entrepreneurship education career within Higher or Further Education, who is making an exceptional contribution while demonstrating their potential for transformational future impact.

Pioneer in Enterprise Education – an exceptional individual who is actively influencing and driving transformational change and creating impact related to enterprise and entrepreneurship education within their organisation and across the sector.

Inclusive Enterprise Education Award – an additional award conferred to one entry from any of the above four categories, designed to recognise excellence in driving change in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) in enterprise and entrepreneurship education or practice.

People’s Choice – shortlisted entries from each category were invited to submit a short video for online public voting to determine the winner of an additional ‘People’s Choice’ award, providing EEUK Associates with the opportunity to have their say in who should be recognised for excellence in enterprise and entrepreneurship education.

The awards were presented by EEUK Directors Lauren Davies of University of the West of England and Neil Coles of University of Bristol. Lauren and Neil were joined at the live online ceremony by the finalists and the award sponsors Sim Venture, sponsoring the Entrepreneurship Catalyst Award and the Rising Star in Enterprise Education Award and Simply Do Ideas, sponsoring the Pioneer in Enterprise Education Award.

The award entries were shortlisted by a panel of 27 expert judges, including current and former EEUK Directors and EEUK Fellows. The judges had the unenviable task of shortlisting the entries down to three finalists per category:

The Enterprise Catalyst Award

1. University of the Highlands and Islands for Scotland’s Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Educators’ Programme
2. Imperial College London’s Harveen Chugh
3. A team from Sheffield Hallam University delivering ‘An innovative approach to broadening the appeal of the Enterprise Sandwich Year Placement.’

The winner of the Enterprise Catalyst Award was Harveen Chugh of Imperial College London.

The Entrepreneurship Catalyst Award

1. The University of Hertfordshire, Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem
2. Northumbria University’s Entrepreneurial Business Management at Newcastle Business School
3. All 23 Universities and Colleges across Wales with the Summer Start-Up Week – “A National Collaboration”

The winning entry was the Summer Start-Up Week – “A National Collaboration” from all 23 universities and colleges across Wales.

Rising Star in Enterprise Education

1. Emily Davies from the University of Exeter
2. Kelly Jordan from Swansea University
3. Christopher Shannon from Ulster University

The winner was Christopher Shannon from Ulster University.

Pioneer in Enterprise Education

1. Ben Mumby-Croft or Imperial College London
2. Sarah Preedy of Plymouth Marjon University
3. Alan Murray of University of the West of Scotland

The winner was Ben Mumby-Croft of Imperial College London.

Inclusive Enterprise Education Award

1. Northumbria University’s Entrepreneurial Business Management at Newcastle Business School
2. The University of Hertfordshire, creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem
3. London School of Economics and Political Science with LSE Generate – Build a Business, Change the World.

The winner of the Inclusive Enterprise Award was London School of Economics and Political Science with LSE Generate – Build a Business, Change the World.

Finally, each of the finalists were eligible to enter the People’s Choice Award by producing a 90 second video entry showcasing their contribution to enterprise and entrepreneurship education. Over 1700 votes were cast in total and the winner of the People’s Choice Award was Harveen Chugh of Imperial College London.

Enterprise Educators UK would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each of the finalists and winners of the National Enterprise Educator Awards 2020 and to thank our judges and sponsors for making these awards possible. EEUK Director Lauren Davies commented:

“The quality of entries for the National Enterprise Educator Awards this year were exceptionally high and truly demonstrated the breadth of excellent practice happening across the sector. We were keen to introduce new categories to the awards this year to recognise the diverse ways in which our members are delivering and enabling excellence in enterprise and entrepreneurship education. Congratulations to our finalists and our six winners for their exceptional contributions to our sector.”