Rank Memorial Award Winners 2024

It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of the Rank Memorial Award 2024.

This year, the award criteria focused on inclusive and inspiring leadership from across the globe. As usual, applicants were invited to learn from outstanding examples of leadership that address a social issue or opportunity, and to consider how those insights could be applied within their own communities. 

The award is highly competitive, and we are delighted to announce that following careful consideration, the selection committee awarded three grants: £7,000 to Emma Pears, and £6,500 each to Lily Fairbairn and Melanie Hall.

Emma Pears

Emma Pears, CEO of SELFA, will be travelling to Canada and the USA to explore innovative approaches to community leadership and place-based change. Inspired by leaders from the Tamarack Institute and the Obama Foundation, Emma hopes to learn how communities can work together to tackle complex social issues and empower local leaders.

During her three-week visit, Emma will spend time with the Tamarack Institute and community leaders across British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec, before travelling to New York to connect with organisations supporting grassroots changemakers. She also hopes to learn from indigenous communities and explore approaches to collaborative leadership and community-led change.

By bringing these learnings back to the UK, Emma hopes to help develop more inclusive leadership opportunities for people working in communities, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, and strengthen support for the next generation of community leaders.

Lily Fairbairn

Lily Fairbairn, Digital Policy and Project Officer at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and former Time to Shine Leader at Rethink Food, will be travelling to Italy and Nepal to explore how leaders are tackling food insecurity at both global and community levels. Her journey will include visits to the World Food Programme headquarters in Rome, alongside organisations and grassroots initiatives in Nepal working to improve food security and build long-term resilience.

By learning from both international organisations and local community leaders, Lily hopes to understand how different approaches to leadership can help tackle hunger and create lasting change. She plans to bring these insights back to the Rank Network, sharing practical ideas to support organisations working to address food insecurity in their own communities.

Melanie Hall

Melanie Hall, Deputy CEO at St Paul’s Youth Forum (SPYF), will be travelling across Canada and the USA to visit pioneering urban agriculture organisations, including The Stop Community Food Centre, the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, Tilth Alliance and Urban Tilth. During her trip, she will explore how these organisations tackle food poverty through community-led growing, youth leadership and sustainable food systems.

She hopes to bring back practical ideas to help shape SPYF’s developing urban farm in Glasgow, particularly around financial sustainability, community food growing and opportunities for local people to develop skills and leadership. By sharing these learnings across RankNet and wider community food networks, she aims to strengthen local food sovereignty and inspire new approaches to tackling food poverty.

We would like to congratulate Emma, Lily and Melanie on their successful applications, and we look forward to hearing from them during and after their travels.