Association Leadership Award (over 2000 members)
Association for Project Management – Professor Adam Boddison OBE
Association for Project Management (APM) is the only chartered membership organisation for the project profession globally. It is essential that our CEO reflects the ethos and values of the organisation in their relationships, activity, and vision. Beyond functional and operational aspects, we need our CEO to deliver growth in a manner that aligns with our core values: Progressive, Thoughtful, Warm and Excellent.
Professor Adam Boddison OBE embodies these characteristics. He is an example of inspirational leadership, stellar business acumen and visionary approach. His appointment as CEO has significantly enhanced APM’s visibility and impact.
Adam became CEO at APM in September 2021, marking a pivotal moment in our organisation’s journey. Under his leadership, APM’s membership has grown from approximately 36,000 when he joined to 45,000 today. Uptake of APM’s prestigious Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) standard has also increased significantly, from approximately 2,000 when Adam joined to over 3,700 today. APM has fostered positive relationships and openly collaborated with organisations traditionally considered to be competitors. The positive workplace culture has been externally recognised with a two-star rating from Best Companies, the leading employee engagement specialist.
Adam’s leadership has propelled APM to new heights, making him a deserving nominee for this award.
British Thoracic Society – Dr Paul Walker
Since 2021, Dr Paul Walker has been an outstanding and inspiring BTS Chair of the Board of Trustees. The BTS Chair is the Society’s most senior representative and ambassador and plays a key role in shaping its work on behalf of its healthcare membership. Paul works tirelessly to improve the treatment for the millions of people in the UK who live with respiratory disease. During his tenure, membership increased by 14% to over 4,500 members.
Paul has shaped emerging healthcare innovations like Virtual Wards where patients are treated within their own homes. He worked on a landmark report, ‘A Respiratory Workforce for the Future’ (2022), which has been downloaded over 2000 times from the BTS website, and also contributed to media interviews and two film series, which attracted over 500,000 views.
Paul is committed to addressing social inequality and promoting diversity. He endorsed a new Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality policy and a Position Statement on Health Inequalities. He also encouraged the delivery of hybrid opportunities like short courses to address accessibility barriers.
Above all, BTS has benefitted from Paul’s humour, kindness, and never-ending drive. His leadership and passion for inclusivity are appreciated by both staff and members.
Federation of Small Businesses – Julie Lilley
As a leader of the UK’s largest business organisation with over 150,000 members, Julie has modernised the business from top to bottom in how it lobbies on behalf of the 5.5 million strong UK small business and self-employed community, how it provides services to its members to grow their business, and how it connects and upskills people locally through a mix of in-person and online bootcamps and business networking.
Institute of Directors in South Africa – Professor Parmi Natesan
Parmi’s journey began with humble beginnings, earning a bursary to attend university and becoming the first in her family to graduate with a degree. Overcoming significant challenges, such as being underestimated as a young-looking woman of colour, she has remained strong and confident, earning respect through the quality of her work.
Today, she is privileged to have established a recognizable brand and voice, a responsibility she takes seriously. Parmi advocates for leadership empowerment in South Africa through various channels, including thought leadership pieces, media releases, and speaking engagements.
Since becoming CEO in 2019, she has instilled the organisation’s core values, known as the 4 P’s: Purpose, Passion, Professionalism, and Performance. These values are now integral to each staff member’s performance appraisal.
In 2023, under Parmi’s leadership the IoDSA launched two certification programmes aligned with her vision to elevate directorship as a profession through the Mentorship and Board Enhancement Programme. Every new IoDSA member, whether individual or corporate, brings the organisation closer to its professional body vision: Better Directors. Better Boards. Better Business.
She is committed to driving IoDSA’s mission to influence, develop, and advance corporate governance and directorship through ethical and effective leadership in South Africa.
NAHT – The School Leaders’ Union – Paul Whiteman
We would like to nominate NAHT General Secretary Paul Whiteman, who took up this role in September 2017, bringing with him trade union knowledge, plus hands-on experience of the challenges faced by school leaders. We believe Paul should win this award for his outstanding leadership of NAHT and proven track record lobbying for positive change that not only ensures the voices of our members are heard in government, but positively impacts the entire education sector. His ability to collaborate with other unions and relevant bodies gives us all a more powerful voice and is key to achieving demonstrable change.
NAHT represents more than 50,000 school leaders and life members in every phase and sector of education including early years, primary, secondary, special schools and FE colleges, making it the largest association for school leaders in the UK. We represent, advise and train school leaders while using our influence at the highest levels of government. We speak for school leaders and our organisation is democratically shaped and directed by members. Key to our association’s success is our ability to share our voice and make a difference for our members.
National Residential Landlords Association – Ben Beadle
Since taking the helm at the National Residential Landlords Association in 2020 I have been working with colleagues to create a truly member-first organisation.
I have led from the front as a figurehead for the NRLA, and over the last 12 months have secured 4,810 items of media coverage, outlining issues affecting the sector – and potential solutions – with a strong focus on challenging stereotypes.
Another priority is to deliver innovative products and services to a growing membership and wider markets. The NRLA has made major steps forward on this front in the last 18 months, during which time I have managed the purchase of property compliance certification company Safe2 and overseen the development of the NRLA’s ‘Portfolio’ property management system.
In a bid to create a positive and inclusive working environment I have introduced a number of initiatives to support and incentivise the workforce, including an annual bonus scheme and offering an additional day of holiday on each colleague’s birthday.
My ‘People First’ strategy has already proved to be successful, with the NRLA in the top 10% of performers when it comes to engagement for a company its size and membership of the organisation growing by 35%.
