Bristol social entrepreneur lands prestigious prize

A Bristol entrepreneur has won a prestigious award  which recognises people who have been able to bring about social change.

The Cambridge Social Innovation Prize is five years old and one of this year’s winners is Poku Osei, the founder and chief executive of Babbassa.

The social enterprise was created to tackle the challenges of youth unemployment and educational underachievement in Bristol’s ethnically diverse inner city communities.

Poku and his team work with young people to explore and nurture their skills and talents to develop their leadership abilities and career opportunities.

The 2023 Cambridge Social Innovation Prize is awarded by Trinity Hall and the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cambridge, supported by a generous donation from Trinity Hall alumnus Graham Ross Russell.

Poku Osei said:  “I feel honoured to be receiving the prestigious Social Innovation Prize from Cambridge University, on the 10th anniversary of Babbasa.

“Taking into consideration where I’m from, this award reinforces for me that we can all descend the limits of our predefined story and pave the way for the future we desire.”

The awards are made annually to extraordinary founder-chief executives of scale-up social enterprises to support their growth as leaders.

The prize includes a £10,000 cash award for personal and professional development. Additionally, mentoring from experts at Cambridge Judge Business School and support from an expanding community of social innovators at Trinity Hall will help them to develop the skills, resources, and networks they need to create more impact from their work.

Nicole Helwig, executive director for the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation says of the prize’s importance in the social enterprise space: “On this the fifth anniversary of the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize, we are thrilled to celebrate five outstanding individuals. They come from diverse backgrounds with expertise and skills channelled towards creating social impact. They represent their ventures, but also the many people who work alongside them, behind the scenes and who are empowered through their efforts.”