The Association Excellence Awards 2021
Recognising and rewarding the hard-won achievements of trade bodies, professionals membership organisations and associations
The Association Excellence Awards salute, celebrate and encourage the vital work that associations,
trade organisations, unions and industry bodies do for and on behalf of their members
to ensure their voices are heard and their causes are championed.
Celebrate with your team
Being an award-winner is a powerful motivator to inspire you and your colleagues to keep up the great work!
Enhance your reputation
Appending an independently judged third-party badge of excellence is a sure-fire shortcut to emphasising your merit to colleagues, clients, bosses & stakeholders.
Generate positive headlines
Spread the good news - everyone loves a success story and winning an award is a great publicity hook for social and traditional media efforts
Aspire to Better Practice
Winner or not - seeing what others do for their products is an irreplaceable source of tried & tested award-worthy ideas!
Caroline Wright
Director General, British Educational Suppliers Association
Caroline Wright is Director General of the British Educational Suppliers Association, the UK’s national industry association for educational products and services.. Caroline is also Director of EdTech Exchange, Europe’s largest EdTech start-up network organisation.
In her time at BESA the association has grown in impact and size and represents more than 80% of the UK educational resources market and more than 350 education suppliers.
Caroline’s career spanned the public and private sector in a range of leadership and communications roles. Caroline moved into Government working as Director of Communications across a range of Departments including the DfE, Ofsted, Partnerships for Schools, The Cabinet Office, and DIT.
Caroline was the recipient of the Education Investor’s prestigious ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’ award in 2017, and is currently a member of the WorldDidac Council, the Education Investor Advisory Board, a school governor at Chingford CofE Primary School, and a judge of the Trade Association Excellence Awards.
Catherine Logan
Regional Vice President for EMEA , GBTA
Catherine Logan is GBTA’s Regional Vice President for EMEA where she is responsible for the development and delivery of GBTA activities in the region. Prior to joining GBTA as Marketing and Membership Director in 2012, Catherine worked in a number of senior marketing roles with Capita Plc and Bank of Ireland followed by 4 years establishing and running a successful events and marketing company in partnership with a colleague and friend.
She is based in Northern Ireland but enjoys the extensive travel that comes with her role.
Chris Skeith
Chief Executive Officer, Association of Event Organisers
Chris is the Chief Executive Officer of the AEO (Association of Event Organisers), the leading association for organisers of events in the UK and internationally.
Chris started his career in media auditing at the Audit Bureau of Circulations, where he later led on the development of their auditing products for the event sector.
In 2006 Chris moved to the Events Industry Alliance, overseeing the merger of AEC & BECA to form ESSA (Event Supplier & Services Association) and the launch of the highly successful ‘Use an ESSA Member’ campaign. In 2010, he also became Director of ESSA’s sister association, AEV (Association of Event Venues), driving venue engagement through numerous special interest groups.
Chris holds a seat on the Government’s Events Industry Board Committee and is Vice Chair & Treasurer of BVEP (Business Visits & Events’ Partnership), a partnership of all leading associations in the event industry, representing the sector to government and regulators. He is an UFI Board Member and chair of their associations.
Darren Caplan
Chief Executive Railway Industry Association
Darren Caplan joined RIA as Chief Executive in January 2017. Since then he has led the RIA team, with a mission to promote rail industry growth, increase RIA’s visibility amongst political and stakeholder decision makers and influencers, and ensure RIA develops into the very best trade association it can be for its members. In 2019, RIA won the “Overall Best Association” category for its size at the Association Excellence Awards.
Prior to RIA, Darren was for six years Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association (AOA), the trade association for UK airports. Before the AOA, Darren worked for 14 years in communications, politics and public affairs across a number of sectors, including infrastructure, planning and technology. He is a lifelong and long-suffering support of Crystal Palace FC.
Debbie Dore
CEO, Association for Project Management
Debbie joined APM in 2015 and held the roles of chief commercial officer and chief operating officer before becoming CEO in 2018. She is responsible for leading the organisation through a period of change, including establishing it as a chartered body and developing the reputation of project management as a profession of value.
Debbie’s career journey has seen her work for Thames Television, Oxford University Press and as a member of the board at Swets Information Services, delivering global transformation projects across sales, IT and customer service. Debbie has also served as a non-executive director for UKSG, a membership organisation connecting the knowledge community, and as a volunteer for Inspiring Future Careers.
Having had responsibility for teams in 25 countries, Debbie has a proven track record in leading people through change and development, and using technology to drive continuous improvement. She says the most important attributes in her role as CEO are being open to learning new things, listening to people’s views and having the confidence to do things differently.
Outside work, Debbie’s passions include travelling and exploring new places. She also enjoys property development and walking.
Jon Levett
Chief Executive, National Association of Funeral Directors
Ken Pullar
CEO, Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP)
Ken is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP). The CIPP is the association for payroll and pension professionals in the UK and was established in 1980. With more than 10,000 individuals benefitting from the CIPP’s membership, education and training services, the Institute is dedicated to raising the profile of UK payroll in businesses across the UK.
The CIPP also has a seat at government consultation forums influencing legislation that affect payroll and pensions in the UK and in ensuring members are up to date and their views are heard. Prior to becoming CEO of the CIPP Ken has had 40 years experience within the Payroll & HR Services industry with roles as such as Global Payroll Outsourcing Director, BPO Operations Director and various Service Director roles.
