It is with great pleasure that we announce the winners of the Rank Memorial Award 2026.
This year, the Memorial Award focuses on learning from inspiring leadership from across the globe with a particular emphasis on organisational resilience. 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 two grants of £5,000 each to Alisha Dixon and Angeletia Padmore.
Alisha Dixon
Alisha Dixon, Deputy Chief Officer at Search Newcastle, plans to travel to Norway for two weeks to explore how the country creates age-friendly cities and communities.
She hopes to visit the Centre for an Age-friendly Norway in Ålesund, alongside inner-city and rural communities, to learn how Norway supports people to age well, maintain social connections and live independently.
With Newcastle having held age-friendly city status since 2014, Alisha wants to understand how strong leadership, resilience and innovation can turn this ambition into meaningful change. She hopes to bring these insights back to Search Newcastle and share them with wider networks, helping to inspire progress towards more inclusive communities where people of all ages can thrive.
“Totally stunned and elated to be given this unique and wonderful opportunity. I know it will change my life!”
Angeletia Padmore
Angeletia Padmore, Founder of Cooked and Delivered, plans to travel to Denmark for over a week to learn from organisations that are successfully using food and community spaces to strengthen social connections, improve wellbeing and build community resilience.
These include Madhuset (The Danish Food Culture House), Settlementet Vesterbro and Roskilde Festival Group, as well as community food projects, social enterprises and community hubs in Copenhagen and the surrounding areas.
Food has always been a connector in Angeletia’s life. As the founder of Cooked and Delivered, a community initiative that uses food to strengthen local connections, she hopes to learn from some of the world’s best examples of community leadership and bring those lessons back to Lincolnshire to benefit local communities for years to come.
“Winning the Rank Memorial Award is both an honour and a responsibility. It gives me the opportunity to explore how leaders and resilient communities can be developed around a shared table where food becomes more than a meal and creates space for belonging, trust, conversation and opportunity. I am excited to learn from inspiring projects in Denmark, share the journey through my ReflectCast and bring practical lessons home to Lincolnshire.”
Alisha and Angeletia will share more about their plans at the Rank Foundation’s Annual Conference in February 2027.
In the meantime, explore the longer-term impact of the Award in the latest edition of our Ripples magazine, which celebrates 15 years of Memorial Award journeys. It features seven past recipients reflecting on where their journeys have led and how their experiences continue to shape their work.
Share
Tags
Leadership News RankNet
