See how our people and projects are being recognised for bold impact.
In 2025, our partnership with Saboteur on the Act for Early Years campaign won top prize in the Transform Diamond Awards for Best Visual Identity by a Charity, NGO, or Not-For-Profit. Using the font based on children’s scribbles, the campaign was described by judges as "brave, emotive, unique, memorable and powerful."
Theirworld has worked with the London brand agency Saboteur for many years. One of those collaborations involved creating a font for the Act For Early Years campaign, based on children’s letters and doodles. Described as “brilliantly simple and emotionally strong,” the campaign won a Silver Award for typography at the global Brand Impact Awards 2024.
Global media company Omnicom partnered with Theirworld to ensure world leaders could not ignore the education crisis. The resulting Let Me Learn campaign — which included one billion impressions on social media and billboards in New York’s Times Square during the United Nations General Assembly — was a finalist in the 2023 Third Sector Charity Business Awards.
In 2023, Nhial Deng, 24, became the second Theirworld Global Youth Ambassador to be named Global Student of the Year. Nhial, originally from Ethiopia, won for empowering over 20,000 refugees in a camp in Kenya through peace-building, education and entrepreneurship programmes, as well as creating a safe space for young people to heal from their trauma. [Image: Clinton Global Initiative]
Justin van Fleet, President of Theirworld and CEO of the Global Business Coalition for Education, was featured in Worth Magazine's Worthy 100 for 2023. The list celebrated entrepreneurs, business leaders, celebrities, and philanthropists who use their skills and influence to make the world a better place. Justin said: "I am so proud of the teams at Theirworld and the Global Business Coalition for Education and our vast network of supporters."
Theirworld’s Schools Hub—resources for teachers and students in the UK—was a winner of the Global Dimension Awards 2022 in the Top Publishers category. This goes to organisations producing the most consistent, high-quality and cutting-edge resources. Award organisers Reboot The Future said: “Theirworld resources are a wonderful way for students of any age to engage with the issues that matter the most.”
Palak Sharma, a Global Youth Ambassador from India who campaigns on sustainable development, period poverty, and rural sanitation, was a winner of The Diana Award in 2021 for her work on the Sustainable Development Goals. The Diana Award is the most prestigious prize for young people’s social action or humanitarian work.
Theirworld Global Youth Ambassadors have twice been named as Global Student of the Year. Jeremiah Thoronka, 21, who grew up in a displacement camp in Sierra Leone, was the 2021 winner for inventing a device that uses kinetic energy from traffic and pedestrians to generate clean power, so it doesn’t rely on a battery or the weather.
The University of Edinburgh awarded an honorary degree in 2021 to Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown for her passionate advocacy on global education and health issues. Receiving her doctorate, Sarah spotlighted the pioneering work of the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory, based at the university, into the causes and consequences of premature birth. [Image: University of Edinburgh]
Trauma Informed Schools, run in Turkey by Maya Vakfı and supported by Theirworld, was a 2021 winner of the WISE Awards, which recognises innovative global education projects. The project trained public school teachers, school counsellors, parents, and caregivers to understand the experiences and psychological needs of more than 5,000 Syrian refugee and Turkish students.
Presidents, prime ministers, and the United Nations Secretary-General were among the visitors to Theirworld’s Infinity Classroom—an installation project at the UN headquarters in New York during the 2019 General Assembly. Created with our partners Omnicom and BBDO Worldwide through the UN Common Ground Initiative, the mirrored walls gave the effect of endless empty school seats. The project won Gold in Spatial Design from ADC • Global Awards & Club.
In 2019, Theirworld Chair Sarah Brown was given the Woman of Influence award by the charity Action for Children Scotland for her work with the charity. The award recognises women in Scotland who have made an outstanding impact on society. Paul Carberry, Action for Children Director for Scotland, said: "This award is in recognition of her commitment to young people across Scotland.” [Image: Martin Shields]
