Final shortlist 2025

Clare, Oldham

Clare has demonstrated outstanding social work leadership within her local authority through a combination of visionary thinking, collaborative practices and unwavering commitment to children and families. Her ability to inspire and support her team is evident in her proactive approach to addressing social issues, fostering an environment of trust and empowerment among colleagues.

Kakoli, Westminster

Kakoli is a dedicated social worker with 20+ years at Westminster, serving as a respected service manager in the busy assessment team. Known for her empathy and deep understanding of local families, she brings a creative, systemic approach to her work. A strong advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion, Kakoli’s leadership is defined by her commitment to making a positive impact and championing the needs of both families and colleagues.

Nana, Merton

Nana has over 10 years of experience as a social worker and is co-host of The Social Worker and The Mentor podcast. He is an advocate for the profession, always trying to raise the profile of social work and discussing key issues in the sector. Nana leads with compassion, has a commitment to diversity and representation and shows remarkable leadership skills in everything he does.

Stephanie, Oldham

Stephanie is passionate about developing social workers and supporting them to thrive in their roles. She’s had a big impact on retention at her local authority, which ultimately benefits the children and families supported, as they have access to a diverse group of social workers with a breadth of experience, skills and perspectives, all working to achieve the best outcomes for them.

Syleta, Luton

Syleta has made a huge difference to the children and families supported by the children looked after team in Luton, always advocating for children behind the scenes and listening to their views. She is a supportive, focused and knowledgeable manager who encourages her team to develop holistic plans for each family, ensuring decisions are made in the interest of each child.

Laurie, Now Foster

Laurie is co-founder and practice lead at Now Foster, a charity that enables more people to experience the joy of fostering. They have developed new fostering initiatives like Weekenders, connecting young people in foster care with a broader network of adults, enriching their lives and outcomes while also widening the pool of foster carers to offer more consistent support.

Matt and Hannah, Relational Social Work podcast

Matt and Hannah both work at Coventry children’s services and started the Relational Social Work Podcast, aimed at child and family social workers. Through the podcast Matt and Hannah, with the help of a variety of guests, focus on the importance of connection and relationships in social work with children, young people and their families. This has given practitioners a new and creative learning tool.

Niketa, Why Care

Niketa is the founder of Why Care, a social enterprise dedicated to transforming the foster care system in the UK through innovative recruitment, comprehensive training, and robust support. Their mission is to support local authorities to recruit diverse skilled foster carers, ensuring that every child in need finds a stable and loving home. Why Care provides a holistic assessment process facilitated by individuals with both lived and professional experience, which is an innovative and unique approach.

Nimal, Practice Guides

Nimal is a dedicated and innovative leader with over 25 years of experience in children’s services. She is currently the head of Practice Development at Foundations (What Works Centre for Children and Families). Nimal has been the driving force behind the Practice Guides, which support local authorities in delivering evidence-based practice that improves outcomes. So far the Practice Guides have focused on support for kinship carers, parenting through adversity and mentoring and befriending for care experienced children and young people.

Rasheda and George, Fosterli

Rasheda is the founder of Fosterli, a fostering assessment software solution designed to streamline the foster application process, enhancing the experience for applicants, assessors and managers. Fosterli offers step–by–step guidance and a knowledge hub, making sure applicants stay engaged with the process, as well as informed and supported. This is driving social change as children are matched with well-prepared foster carers.

Anna, Devon

Anna is an experienced social worker who has a passion for working with children and young people to understand their identities and strengthen relationships with families and foster carers. She is child focused, always keeping young people at the centre of her work and doesn’t shy away from difficult decisions when needed. Anna builds long lasting relationships with the children she supports and is skilled at offering meaningful life story work.

Hafsa, Luton

Hafsa is a committed and empathetic social worker who works closely with the children and families she supports to ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved. Her warm and gentle approach gives families a sense of safety and security in situations that are often overwhelming, as she works to understand each family’s particular needs.

Jemma, Barnsley

Jemma has a passion for social work and always goes that extra mile for children and families, as well as her colleagues and her wider team. Her natural warmth and empathy enable her to create meaningful relationships with families, as she prioritises the wellbeing of children and is creative in her practice in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Jasmine, South Gloucestershire

Jasmine is hardworking, proactive and committed to her role. She is dedicated to learning, understanding research and gaining new knowledge to take into her practice with families. As a result, Jasmine has created unique and outstanding resources and direct tools to use with children and has shared this with her peers.

Katia, Prison Advice and Care Trust

Katia is a social worker at HMP Send. In this role she acts as a mediator for mothers, supporting their engagement with social services, advocating for contact with children and ensuring that, wherever possible, relationships are maintained. Katia is child–focused and an advocate for social workers in prisons.

Skye, Merton

Skye is determined to ensure that each child she works with understands exactly what they are going through and creates detailed social stories to help with this. Her advocacy for children is her greatest strength, as she ensures each child’s voice is heard. Skye tackles difficult conversations head on, breaking down barriers and taking every step towards change.

Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Childrens Service, Coventry

The unaccompanied asylum-seeking children’s service team in Coventry support children who have newly arrived in the UK and care leavers. The team’s work has strengthened not only the experiences of unaccompanied children but also national policy as they attend strategic meetings on future developments in this area of practice. They’ve also hosted a conference with over 1000 attendees, supporting to upskill the workforce on how best to support this group of young people.

New Beginnings, Kirklees

The Kirklees New Beginnings model was introduced in 2022 with a clear aim of helping expectant parents and professionals work together in a supportive way during a pre-birth assessment, which takes place when there are concerns for an unborn baby. This new model has had a tangible, positive impact on children’s lives in Kirklees, making sure the correct support is given and accurate assessments are taking place for families.

Social Work Academy, Northampton Children’s Trust

The Social Work Academy in Northampton celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2024, having now supported over 330 newly qualified social workers. Some of these social workers are now team managers, senior social workers and practice educators, highlighting the great foundations they received as part of the academy at the very start of their social work journey. They have three new cohorts per year and offer a bespoke programme for each newly qualified social workers learning, development and progression.