We are delighted to announce the Gold winners of the 2025 edition of the EFMD Excellence in Practice Awards (EiP)!

The Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards celebrate the transformative power of partnerships in learning and development. These awards recognise organisations and learning providers that join forces to design and implement initiatives that drive real change, elevate talent, and shape the future of professional growth.

From leadership development to organisational transformation, the EiP Awards shine a light on initiatives that create measurable impact for individuals, businesses, and society. Winning projects demonstrate how effective partnerships can foster innovation, adaptability, and sustainable growth. By acknowledging collaborative excellence, the EiP Awards encourage organisations to rethink the way they develop talent and cultivate learning ecosystems.

The 2025 Gold Award Winners in the following categories are:

Category: Organisational Development

Axpo Group & University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management Technology and Law

“Axpo The Power of US – Leadership transformation from the top”

Henriette Wendt, Chief Operating Officer, Axpo Group said, ‘We’re honored to receive the EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award in partnership with the University of St. Gallen. This recognition reflects Axpo’s commitment to shaping the energy future – and to the cultural / leadership journey we are undertaking to make that happen. Partnering with UNISG enabled us to experiment, reflect, and grow; this award celebrates not only the results, but also the courage of our organisation to try something new.’

Christian Sauerbrey, Vice-Director, Director of Custom Programmes, University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management Technology and Law, commented, ‘What set this initiative apart was our deep belief that true transformation starts at the top — with courageous leadership willing to listen, reflect, and role-model change. By combining rigorous diagnostics on Executive Board Level with a 100% action-and experiential learning driven roll-out to 1,200 managers – co-creating across business units, we turned values into action and culture into competitive advantage.’

Category: Leadership Development

NatWest Group & IMD

“Igniting the transformation to a future-oriented learning organisation”

‘We are, as a partner of NatWest and as the IMD community, very happy that our collaboration is recognized as impactful and pioneering. As the Dean of Faculty and Research, I am proud that it’s not just a few individuals who make this happen, but a team of faculty, researchers, learning managers, executive coaches, software developers, and other crew members who make this happen,’ expressed Stefan Michel, Professor of Management, Dean of Faculty and Research, IMD.

Jen Tippin, Chief Operating Officer, NatWest Group, said, ‘Our leadership team plays a vital role in setting the strategy and culture across NatWest Group, allowing us to succeed with our customers, shareholders and the UK. I’m delighted that our work with IMD has been recognised for its tangible impact in helping us build the right capabilities for our future strategic growth.’

Category: Ecosystem Development

Principals Academy Trust & Capitec Foundation & University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (GSB)

“Empowering principals to transform schools”

Keith Richardson, CEO, Principal Academy Trust, commented, ‘Pope Francis recently emphasised restoring hope in education by shifting focus to utilising their assets. Since 2013, Cape Town’s Principals Academy has done just that—mentoring school leaders, building strong cultures, and applying modern leadership methods. Nearly 300 marginalised schools now celebrate their transformation with the EiP (Gold) Award.’

Jodie Martin, Head of Executive Education, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, said, ‘The final product of the case study was such a wonderful portfolio of evidence about the transformational work done by all the stakeholders to uplift the South African educational system for educators, learners, and their communities. The study itself felt like a win but getting the news that we won the EFMD gold award was a phenomenal yet humble experience, about the endless possibilities that can be made with dedicated and visionary partners. This Gold award represents the passion, dedication, bravery and resilience of educators, learners, faculty, and partners to uplift and motivate in the pursuit of making a positive impact on the lives of others.’

Rayner Canning, Director Business Development and Executive Education, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, remarked, ‘We are deeply humbled by the Excellence in Practice Gold Award for Ecosystem Development 2025. It is further recognition of the important work being done in Africa, by Africans, through education, to improve the prospects of a generation of young African schoolchildren. The tripartite partnership between UCT GSB, Principals Academy Trust and the Capitec Foundation is a wonderful bellwether for solving many of Africa’s problems, especially in light of government inability. Huge thanks must go to our faculty and student success teams who have been able to keep the program relevant to shifting audience needs over so many years.’

Congratulations and thank you from EFMD:

Eric Cornuel, President, EFMD, congratulated the 2025 EiP Award winners, saying, ‘Congratulations to all the winners of the 2025 edition of the Excellence in Practice Awards! The winning cases show the real impact that strong partnerships can have when organisations and learning institutions come together to build practical, lasting solutions. They demonstrate how trust, a common goal, and real dedication can lead to meaningful change for people, businesses, and society. The EiP Awards honour more than success; they highlight the transformative influence of partnerships that rethink conventions and uplift both strategy and societal impact.

‘Once again this year, a remarkably diverse set of applications was carefully reviewed by our jury of practising professionals. As in previous years, we approached each development project as an investment, examining the real impact and assessing whether the key challenges were effectively addressed. The result is an inspiring collection of experiences, thoughtfully documented and shared by colleagues. It’s worth noting how both applicants and jury members remained sharply focused and deeply engaged throughout the process. I look forward to the continued exchange of insights with this year’s winners.’ added Jan Ginneberge, Senior Advisor, EFMD Corporate Services.

EFMD is eager to provide visibility and support to all professionals in the L&D sector. The winners will be awarded during the next EFMD Executive Development Conference on 1-2 October 2025, hosted by the Stockholm School of Economics.

We would like to thank all of the applicants as well as the jury members, for their successful cooperation and hope to receive further exciting cases next year. We are pleased to note the continuously growing quality of applications. Apart from the Gold Award winners, there were Silver Award winners selected from the entries.

Next submission deadline: March 2026.

Please check the executive summaries available on the EiP Winners page—full case studies will be published in June. For submission guidelines and expressions of interest, please visit our website. If you have any questions or would like further information on the EiP awards, you can find out more in the EiP Overview Brief, or please contact Florence Gregoire.