Forum

What is Forum?


Forum is a pivotal gathering that shapes the future of the Award—its governance, management, and implementation worldwide. Held once every three years, it brings together leaders from across the Association to share best practices, address challenges, and celebrate successes.


This is more than just a conference—it’s a chance to engage in strategic discussions, explore innovative solutions, and participate in interactive workshops that will help Operators grow participation and impact. Attendees will gain exclusive insights from expert speakers, troubleshoot challenges with peers, and connect with fellow leaders to build lasting partnerships. Crucially, the Forum also provides a platform to influence the future direction of the Award, ensuring that Operators play an active role in shaping global strategy and decision-making. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to discussions that will define the Award’s ambitions for the years ahead.


During the Forum, attendees will engage in strategic discussions on the Award’s global development, gaining a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape in which we operate. There will feature a dynamic mix of plenary sessions, hands-on workshops, and targeted discussions, offering attendees both big-picture vision and practical takeaways to implement within their own organisations. A detailed agenda will be shared in due course. We strongly encourage all organisations to send at least two attendees—investing in attendance means investing in the growth, sustainability, and success of your Award programme. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation shaping the Award’s future.


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"It was a great experience and totally worth the travel. Feeling very motivated after this."

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Previous Forum Attendee


Forum programme at a glance...

Click here to view the Forum Attendee Brochure

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More details

DAY 1 - Wednesday 19 November

08:45 - 09:45 - Regional Meetings: Americas and Africa

An opportunity to gather as region to share updates and discuss proposals.

09:00 - 13:00 - Registration, information stalls and networking

10:00 - 11:00 - Regional Meetings: Asia Pacific and EMAS

An opportunity to gather as region to share updates and discuss proposals.

12:30 - 13:30 - Lunch

14:00 - 15:00 - International Council Meeting

15:30 - 17:00 - Grand Opening Ceremony

Welcome to Nigeria, setting the scene and the challenge facing the Award.

18:30 - 22:00 - Nigerian Excellence Evening and Gold Award Ceremony

DAY 2 - Thursday 20 November

08:45 - 09:30 - Keynote Address

09:30 - 12:30 - Working session: Working Together to grow the Award

An energising session discussing how the whole Association will work together to achieve critical mass by enabling scale, sustainability and impact.

12:30 - 13:30 - Lunch

13:00 - 16:00 - Award in Action Visit - New Era Girls School

13:30 - 17:00 - Development Labs - Communications, Impact and Youth Voice

14:00 - 17:00 - Development Labs - Stepping stones to success'': Exploring Today, Shaping Tomorrow

14.00 - 17.00 - Award in Action Visit - Oracle Nigeria

14.00 - 17.00 - Award in Action Visit - Teach for Nigeria

Information on each session is available in the brochure

18:00 - Free evening

DAY 3 - Friday 21 November

08:45 - 09:00 - Opening Remarks

09:00 - 17:30 - Split session: Building Capacity Workshops

These workshops will map directly to ‘Reach for the Sky’, and demonstrate ways to improve organisational capability.


Attendees will attend two workshops across the course of the day. Each workshop will run twice, once in the morning and again in the afternoon.


1. Financial Sustainability Lab

2. Scale-Up Laboratory

3. Safety & Quality Systems

4. Digital Transformation

5. Policy Integration Workshop

6. Future-Ready Leadership

Information on each session is available in the brochure

18:00 -Free evening


DAY 4 - Saturday 22 November

08:45 - 09:00 - Opening Remarks

09:00 - 12:00 - Working Session: Generating Impact post-Forum

Workshop leads will report back with key actions from their sessions; responses on next steps from all attendees.

12:00 - 12:30 - International Council Meeting

12:30 - 14:00 - Lunch

14:00 - 15:00 - Closing Ceremony

19:00 - 22:00 - Gala Dinner





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