2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Gold Award winners
We are proud to unveil the 2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Gold Award winners!
The Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards honour the power of partnership in learning and development. Through these awards, EFMD highlights the organisations and learning providers that come together to design and deliver initiatives capable of driving genuine change, growing talent, and reshaping how professional development is approached.
Whether the focus is leadership, organisational transformation or ecosystem-wide impact, the EiP Awards bring attention to initiatives that deliver tangible results for individuals, companies, and the wider community. The winning cases illustrate how well-designed partnerships can unlock innovation, build adaptability, and support sustainable growth. By spotlighting collaborative excellence, the EiP Awards invite organisations to think differently about how they nurture talent and shape learning ecosystems.
The 2026 Excellence in Practice (EiP) Gold Award winners across the categories are:
Category: Organisational Development
Seco Tools & Hult Ashridge Executive Education
“Leading transformation from within – Enabling teams to lead transformation at Seco Tools”
Stefan Steenstrup, CEO, Seco Tools, said, ‘In our transformative work, in close partnership with Hult Ashridge, we’ve created the conditions for more open dialogue, stronger collaboration, and continuous learning across the organisation. This has helped us shift the way we create value for our Customers, from being seen as a product seller to an end-to-end solution provider. I’m proud that our work and partnership with Hult Ashridge has been recognised with this EFMD Gold Award.’
Stefan Cousquer, Program Director at Hult Ashridge Executive Education and Professor of Strategy and Leadership at Hult International Business School, commented, ‘This partnership stands out because of Seco’s and Hult Ashridge’s commitment to doing transformation differently. We worked hand in hand with their leadership and people to enable teams to lead their own strategic change – rather than having it “done” to them. By working with how teams balance performance and transformation, collaborate across boundaries and above all, learn together along the way – Seco has built the foundations for lasting change. This award recognizes the courage both partners had to keep hosting the difficult conversations that addressed the relational, power, and mental model changes required to deliver transformation and business results.’
Category: Talent Development
Rio Tinto & AGSM, UNSW
“RioInspire: Accelerating Indigenous talent globally”
Chris Croker, Global Chief Advisor Indigenous Relations, Rio Tinto, expressed, ‘We’re honoured to receive the EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award in partnership with the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). The award recognises the commitment of more than 70 Indigenous participants who took part in the program, supporting them to learn, reflect and grow through their leadership journey.’
Nick Wailes, Dean of Lifelong Learning, UNSW, added, ‘AGSM, UNSW is honoured to receive the EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award in Talent Development for RioInspire. Developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, the global program for Indigenous leaders accelerates leadership capability and equips leaders to influence enterprise decision-making across a complex global organisation.’
Category: Professional Development
Novo Nordisk & IMD
“Building leadership and a Community of Practice to accelerate strategy”
Robin Evers, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Strategy and Project Leadership, Novo Nordisk, said, ‘EFMD’s Gold Award is a powerful recognition of what Novo Nordisk and IMD achieved together. The Global Project Team Chair programme strengthened enterprise leadership across our portfolio and value chain, building a trusted Community of Practice where shared insights and learnings translate into better decisions for Novo Nordisk and patients.’
Martin Fellenz, Professor, Leadership and Organisation, IMD, commented, ‘We’re proud of IMD’s partnership with Novo Nordisk, and specifically of a client relationship confident enough to pause, question, and redesign even when things were working well because both sides believed there was more value still to unlock. That kind of ambition and willingness in a client is rare, and when you find it, it becomes the most fertile ground for building interventions that truly last. The Community of Practice, still actively running long after the programme ended, is the most compelling evidence of the kind of sustained impact this award celebrates.’
Category: Ecosystem Development
Hixon Group & Keele University
“Co-creating digital capability: A university–industry partnership model”
Jonathan Lawton, Managing Director, Hixon Group, remarked, ‘Collaborating with Keele Business School has transformed Hixon Group. Winning the EFMD Gold Award validates our belief that the strongest cyber resilience comes from combining industry expertise with academic rigour. Together, we have strengthened our services while helping build a more resilient digital ecosystem for businesses across the region.’
Colin Rigby, Director of Enterprise, Keele Business School, added, ‘This award validates our shift from consultancy to ecosystem development. Partnering with Hixon Group, we co-created a knowledge-exchange model delivering measurable value. By embedding cyber resilience strategically, we aren’t just preparing future leaders—we are actively architecting the security and growth of the industries they will lead.’
Congratulations and thank you from EFMD
Eric Cornuel, President, EFMD, congratulated the 2026 EiP Award winners, saying, ‘Warmest congratulations to the 2026 Excellence in Practice Award winners. This year’s cohort reflects what makes these awards so meaningful: partnerships between organisations and learning institutions that are genuinely committed to creating change and willing to do the careful, sustained work that real impact requires. The winning cases come from very different sectors and parts of the world, yet they share a common thread — a clear sense of purpose, a deep respect between partners, and a focus on learning that translates into lasting value for people, organisations, and society. It is in this kind of collaboration that executive development is at its most powerful, and where business schools demonstrate their continued relevance to the challenges of our time.
Jan Ginneberge, Senior Advisor, EFMD Corporate Services, commented, ‘In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to demonstrate the value of investing in people and organisations: how these efforts are professionally designed and executed, and above all, how they fulfil their promise by delivering genuine impact. As always, I cannot thank the applicants and jury members enough for the expertise, dedication, and time they contribute — whether by formalising and sharing their projects or by carefully reviewing and evaluating the cases. Above all, I hope that many stakeholders will take the time to read the award-winning cases, draw inspiration from them, and continue investing in learning, development, and organisational growth.’
EFMD is committed to giving visibility and support to professionals across the L&D community. The winners will be celebrated at the next EFMD Executive Development Conference on 7-8 October 2026, hosted by University College Dublin.
Our sincere thanks go to all the applicants and to our jury members for their dedication throughout this year’s edition. We look forward to receiving more inspiring cases in the years to come, and we are pleased to see the quality of submissions continue to rise. Alongside the Gold Award winners, Silver Award winners were also selected from this year’s entries.
Next submission deadline: March 2027.
Executive summaries are available on the EiP Winners page—full case studies will follow in June. For submission guidelines and expressions of interest, please visit our website. If you have any questions or would like more information on the EiP awards, take a look at the EiP Overview Brief, or get in touch with Florence Gregoire.
