Sponsored by Advance HE
We’re delighted to announce that this year we have received a total of 15 submissions for the Developing Excellent Practice Awards, recognising and celebrating outstanding staff development individuals or teams.
The SDF Developing Excellent Practice Award reflects the 2025 Festival of Learning and Development’s overarching theme of Facing the Future, Shaping the Now.
We’d like to thank the nominated institutions for their submissions. Find out a bit more about them.
Coleg Sir Gâr Coleg Ceredigion
- Project Name: AI Enhancement, Not Replacement Embedding Confidence, Curiosity, and Ethical AI Practice across our Workforce
- Name of nominee(s): Bryony Evett Hackfort – Director of Learning, Teaching, Technology; Amanda Daniels – Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality; Jess Evans – Heading of Teaching, Learning and Education; Olivia Sills – Innovation Lead; there are many others that have played a part in this project and have been instrumental in making this cultural shift possible!
Buckinghamshire New University
- Project Name: Being a Manager at BNU – Management Development Programme
- Name of nominee(s): Christine Boucher – People Development Partner; Rachel Hemingway – People Development Partner; Nicky Wilson – Organisational Development Partner
Queen’s University Belfast
- Project Name: Advising Together Building a Sustainable Community of Practice to Empower Academic Advisors and Enhance Student Success
- Name of nominee(s): Olivia Hamill – Professional Development Consultant; Dr Declan McLaughlin – Senior Lecturer (Education)
- Project Name Rebalancing Perspectives Embedding Inclusive Leadership through Reverse Mentoring at Queen’s
- Name of nominee(s): Olivia Hamill – Professional Development Consultant; Alexandra Carmichael – Student Experience Co-ordinator; Kate McCorry – Student Experience Manager
University of Cambridge
- Project Name: Communities of Practice – Unifying the University
- Name of nominee(s): Katherine Lawrence – Organisational Development Consultant; Rachel Machon – Head of Learning and Organisational Development; Freya Villis – Organisational Development Consultant
University of Edinburgh
- Project Name: Responsible and ethical use of Generative AI and ELM
- Name of nominee(s): Satu Kapiainen – Head of Digital Skills, Design and Training; Bartlomiej Pohorecki – Training Support Officer (Generative AI/ELM); Pragya Modi – Training Support Officer (Generative AI/ELM)
University of Nottingham
- Project Name: Herschel Programme for Women in Technical Leadership 2025
- Name of nominee(s): Claire Cawthorne – Learning & Development Manager; Claire Devey – Project Manager (UK ITSS); Susan Matthews – Project Officer (UK ITSS)
University of Leeds
- Project Name: FMH Headstart Masterclasses Programme
- Name of nominee(s): Susanna O’Leary-Hall, Inclusive Leadership & Culture Partner; Louise Bryant – Deputy Dean: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- Project Name: Inaugural Cross Institutional Coaching Conference (2025)
- Name of nominee(s): Harriet Boatwright – Organisational Learning Partner; Sarah Thomson – Learning Development Administrator; Christian McGrath – People and Organisational Development Manager (University of Huddersfield)
- Project Name: Discovering your Leadership – Impact Evaluation & External recognition
- Name of nominee(s): Harriet Boatwright – Organisational Learning Partner; Anna Foster – Project Officer
Institute of Cancer Research
- Project Name: IgnitePLUS – A cross organisational tailored development programme for service-oriented technical managers
- Name of nominee(s): Aline Tabib-Salazar – Programme Manager (Technician Career Pathways); Barbara Villarejo-Balcells – Research Development Coordinator; Neil Walford – Deputy Director of Organisational Development; Amelia Kowalewska – Science Training Advisor (The Francis Crick Institute); Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo – Technical Skills Development Hub Manager (University College London); Gursimran Oberoi – Researcher Development Consultant (King’s College London)
University of Liverpool
- Project Name: The Prosper Employer Insight series
- Name of nominee(s): James Reynolds – Communications Manager; Dr Fiona McBride – Senior Researcher Developer; Dr Stefania Silvestri – Researcher Developer; Kerry
McElroy – Stakeholder Development Manager; Candice Booth – Researcher Development Coordinator
University College London
- Project Name: Trailblazing Technical Excellence Establishing the ‘Technical Skills Development Hub – TSDH’ as a Sector Benchmark for Inclusive Development
- Name of nominee(s): Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo – Technical Skills Development Hub Manager; Mike Brown – Executive Director of Research Technology Platforms and Institutional Lead; Our work is highly collaborative, drawing on the expertise of the Technical Managers Group (TMG) and dedicated People in the Research and Innovation Technology (PRIT) Group
University of Chester
- Project Name: An institution-wide approach to reimagining the curriculum
- Name of nominee(s): Dr. Claire Stocks – Head of Academic Practice and Development; Prof. Jackie Potter – Dean of CAID; Laura Milne – Head of Digital Education; Prof. Ruth Healey – University Innovation Fellow; Dr. Katharine Welsh – University Innovation Fellow; Dr. Michaela Borg – Senior Academic Development Advisor; Joan Martin – Human Resources; Designers of the process and the facilitation team also included colleagues from the Senior Leadership Team of the University (Academic Registrar, DVC, Dean of Quality), CAID, Academic Services, Library and Information Services (LIS), Academic Skills (ASK), Careers and Employability; Colleagues from the University of Hull; the University of South Wales and Southern Cross University
University of Lancashire
- Project Name: Aspire Diverse Leaders Programme
- Name of nominee(s): Harriet Tyler – People Engagement Partner; Nicola Kavanagh- Roxby, Tess Bill, Katie Coward (People Development Team); Bakare Barley, Ayo and Rachel (External Consultants); Ayad, Enoche, Asim, Yas, Naz, Ketna, Gladys, Peggy (Aspire cohort (Co-designers))
Presentation to the winners will be made on Tuesday 11th November at 2:00 pm during Sarah Hubbard’s keynote at the SDF Festival of Learning and Development.
Dr. Rossana Gent, SDF Chair