Pioneers Post founder among five ‘extraordinary’ winners of Cambridge Social Innovation Prize 2023

Five UK social entrepreneurs today will be awarded the 2023 Cambridge Social Innovation Prize, which is given to “extraordinary founder-CEOs of scale-up social enterprises” to support their growth as leaders.

One of the winners is Tim West, the founder and editor of Pioneers Post.

The 2023 winners’ enterprises focus upon community healthcare, employing homeless people, empowering young leaders, engaging social enterprises in big businesses’ supply chains – and, in the case of Pioneers Post, delivering independent news and analysis for the global impact community.

Now in its fifth year, the prize is awarded by Cambridge university college Trinity Hall and the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School, supported by a donation from Trinity Hall alumnus Graham Ross Russell.

The aim of the prize is to recognise mid-career social innovators, and the £10,000 cash award is for professional and personal development, supported by mentoring and links to a network of social innovators at Trinity Hall.

For Pioneers Post, this is an important endorsement of the work our small but brilliant and hard-working team does to deliver our mission as a social enterprise

Nicole Helwig, executive director of the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, said: “We are thrilled to celebrate five outstanding individuals. They come from diverse backgrounds with expertise and skills channelled towards creating social impact. They represent their venture, but also the many people who work alongside them, behind the scenes and who are empowered through their efforts.”

The 2023 winners

The five winners are:

Liz Dennis, co-founder of Filo Project, a community interest company that provides day care to older people with dementia.

Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi, co-founder and COO of Supply Change, a social enterprise working to create impactful supply chains. Keogan-Nooshabadi was named on the Pioneers Post NatWest WISE100 Inspiration List in 2020. 

Zakia Moulaoui, founder and CEO of Invisible Cities, a social enterprise that trains people who have experienced homelessness to be tour guides. Moulaoui was named ‘one to watch’ on the Pioneers Post NatWest WISE100 list in 2019.

Poku Osei, founder and CEO of Babbasa, a social enterprise that develops young people’s leadership skills through training and mentoring.

Tim West, founder editor of Pioneers Post, an independent news network focusing on the work of changemakers working across business, civil society, philanthropy, government and public services.

Tim West said: “Entrepreneurship – even social entrepreneurship – can be quite a lonely place, and although I’ve spent more than 20 years at the heart of the social impact space, it’s actually quite easy to feel disassociated (particularly as a journalist) and somehow an observer rather than ‘a real social entrepreneur’. So, winning this prize is personally very affirming.”

He added: “This is also a really serious prize – I look at some of the previous winners and there are some names there that I very much respect and admire. So, to be recognised among these people actually feels very special and a real honour.”

Previous winners include Susan Aktemel, founder of Homes for Good, Alice Williams, founder of Luminary Bakery, Lisa Stepanovic, founder of Social Ark and Josh Barbarinde, founder of Cracked It.

The award will help Pioneers Post to develop its work. West said: “For Pioneers Post, this is an important endorsement of the work our small but brilliant and hard-working team does to deliver our mission as a social enterprise – to support the ‘pioneers’ working across the impact community through top quality, independent, insightful and engaging solutions-led journalism.”

Header photo: Tim West interviewing Kibret Abebe, founder of social enterprise Tebita Ambulance in Addis Ababa, for this story.

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