Business Awards Program to Celebrate Excellence Worldwide at Barcelona Event

High-achieving organizations and executives around the world have been recognized as Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in The 14th Annual International Business Awards, the world's only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word "crowned," the awards will be presented at a gala event on Saturday, 21 October at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

See the full list of Stevie Award winners here.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,900 nominations received from organizations and individuals in 60 nations. All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can submit entries in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company of the year awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards and more. 

More than 200 executives worldwide participated on 12 juries this year to determine the Stevie winners.

Among the top winners of Gold Stevie Awards are MSLGROUP, worldwide, with 13; Cisco Systems, worldwide (10); Weber Shandwick, worldwide (nine); CallidusCloud, Dublin, California USA (eight); Telkom Indonesia (eight); LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain (seven); and Deutsche Post DHL, worldwide, with six.  Winners of five Gold Stevies include PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies, Makati City, Philippines; Property Exchange Australia Ltd, Melbourne, Australia; PT Petrokimia Gresik, Gresik, Indonesia; Thai Life Insurance, Bangkok, Thailand; and Yapi Kredi Bank, Istanbul, Turkey.

Other organizations with 10 or more Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie wins include, among others, ASDA'A Burson Marsteller, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; FIS, St. Petersburg, Florida USA; Jeunesse Global, Lake Mary, Florida USA; Marico Ltd, Mumbai, India; Odea Bank A.S., Istanbul, Turkey; Ooredoo Group, worldwide; and PRIZM, Hong Kong. 

“We received a record number of nominations in the IBAs this year, and the judges were astounded by the inspiring stories of workplace success from all over the world,” said Stevie Awards founder and president Michael Gallagher.  “We look forward to honoring the Stevie winners who join us in Barcelona on 21 October, and to sharing their stories with the world throughout the coming year on the Stevie Awards social media channels."

During the week of 21 August the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards, five best-of-competition prizes, will be announced.  Winners will be determined by a tally of the total number of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevies won by organizations, and will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies in Barcelona.

For high-resolution photos of the Stevie Award trophy or International Business Awards logo, visit http://stevieawards.com/iba/photos-and-logos. Other information and resources for press are available at http://stevieawards.com/iba/media-inquiries-news-service-list

Fauth Gundlach & Hübl wins the Gold Stevie Award at the 2017 German Stevie Awards in the category “Communications or PR Campaign / PR Program of the Year – Low Budget (under €10,000).”

Fauth Gundlach & Hübl is an owner-operated communications agency based in Wiesbaden, Germany. The sport of golf is firmly established in the Hessian capital, and that might be one of the reasons why the agency was given the lead in regional media relations work for the Final Four of the German Golf League (DGL).

It is much more likely, however, that Fauth Gundlach & Hübl impressed its customer, Deutsche Golf Sport GmbH, a subsidiary of the German Golf Association (DGV), with its core competency. Managing Director Lars Hübl explains: “We identify the subject matter and create suitable content for it, so that our customers can effectively communicate to their specific target groups. We provide consultation, bring ideas to life and implement them, and offer continuous support for communication-related questions. In doing so, we cover six competency fields: public relations, social media, content marketing, sponsoring communication, CSR communication and brand communication.” Among Fauth Gundlach & Hübl’s customers are international companies from various industries, companies from the Rhein-Main region and sports organizations.

In the public eye, golf in Germany continues to eke out an existence as a niche sport. The German Golf Association (DGV) represents 847 member clubs and facilities, with over 643,000 registered amateur golfers. With the KRAMSKI German Golf League presented by Audi (DGL), the association has had an attractive team competition system since 2013. Each year teams from the men’s and women’s top national league compete in a five-day Final Four tournament at a neutral golf course for the title “German Team Champion.”

The assignment for Fauth Gundlach & Hübl: use the Final Four 2016, in order to generate broader media coverage of the league. Lars Hübl: “In order to be able to generate broader media coverage, we had to considerably increase the basis of the media channels to be reached. Therefore, in addition to the classical golf media, our approach was to reach out to the sports desks of the regional and local media concerning the locations of the golf clubs that had qualified for the Final Four 2016.” To make the topic more interesting, the agency offered the editorial offices personalized stories about the respective teams. In addition, the editorial offices received written topic suggestions and were subsequently contacted by telephone.

“We have clearly achieved the goal of expanding the media coverage of the DGL’s Final Four with the campaign. Altogether more than 100 clippings – for example print, online and radio – were achieved in regional and local media,” summarizes Hübl. “Despite the low budget, Fauth Gundlach & Hübl has helped to increase the media coverage of the Final Four tournament by working with regional media outlets. The regional references and the storytelling approach have contributed significantly to the media success. At the same time, we have established contacts that can be used for coverage of future golf events. The basic approach can be used over and over again, even for changing participants and venues.”

As a reward for the project “Hole-in-one: regional media relations for the Final Four of the German Golf League,” the company won a Gold Stevie in the category “Communications or PR Campaign / PR Program of the Year – Low Budget (under €10,000).” The Gold Stevie Award arrived just in time for the agency’s 10^th anniversary. What began in 2007 has grown within ten years into a motivated and harmonious team of 12 employees.

More on the Internet: 

See Managing Director Lars Hübl in an interview after the German Stevie Awards ceremony in Hamburg:  https://youtu.be/OaONyOFkDxg

Read the gold-winning application from Fauth Gundlach & Hübl here.

All Female Entrepreneurs, Executives and Employees Worldwide Are Eligible

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued the call for entries for its 2017 (14^th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor the achievements of working women in more than 85 categories, including: Best Entrepreneur, Best Executive, Mentor or Coach of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Women Helping Women, Employee of the Year, Woman-Owned or -Run Company of the Year and Innovator of the Year. All female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run, worldwide, are eligible to be nominated.

The final entry deadline is August 23, but late entries will be accepted through September 20 with payment of a late fee. Finalists will be announced on October 4, and the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be revealed at a gala awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on November 17, 2017.    

Most categories require the payment of an entry fee for the submission of a nomination, but several categories require no fee, including most of those honoring women in the non-profit and governmental sectors, Female Employee of the Year and the Startup of the Year categories.

Niamh Barker, founder and managing director of The Travelwrap Company in the UK, commented on the impact of her win. “Winning the Stevie Award was an enormous achievement for me and my business and continues to prove beneficial to our operations every day. I had no idea of the impact that winning this award would have on our business until I checked my email from my hotel room the next morning and online orders had flooded in from across the USA. We now have a growing and loyal customer base in America via online and retail outlets. The Stevie Awards have definitely helped elevate our U.S. presence.”

Winners of the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business include, among others: 

• Mina Lux, Founder and CEO, Meelo, New York, NY
• Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, President and CEO, Bank Leumi, Tel-Aviv, Israel
• Yvonne Mei, Executive Vice Chairman of World System Builder, World Financial Group, San Jose, CA
• Ellie Hollander, President and CEO, Meals on Wheels America, Arlington, VA
• Nyree McKenzie, Managing Director and Principal Consultant, Thought Bubble, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
• Astha Malik, VP of Marketing, PagerDuty, San Francisco, CA
• Teresa White, President, Aflac U.S., Columbus, GA
• TAPfit, Queensland, Australia
• Prelude, London, UK
• Humana Insurance, Louisville, KY
• Century 21 Real Estate, Madison, NJ

The 2016 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners reflected a diverse group of large and small organizations around the globe. The 2017 Stevie Awards for Women in Business will be judged by more than 200 leading professionals around the world, and nominees will have access to all of the judges’ comments and suggestions about their nominations: an invaluable resource.

In Germany, creditworthiness for end-customer transactions are worth 350 billion EUR per year. However, credit information is often incorrect, incomplete and in generally unhelpful. This leads to poor conditions for the consumer due to contract rejections. Bonify wants to fix this by offering consumers free credit checks and better transparency using a unique algorithm that helps match users with financial institutions that actually benefit them. This technique helped Bonify win the Silver Stevie^® Award in the Technology Startup of the Year category in the 2017 German Stevie Awards.

Dusting off Bad Credit

Ultimately, Bonify wants to educate their customers about the ills of bad credit. Elisa Thiem, content contributor at Bonify, speaks to the growing issues of bad credit and the lack of tools available in Germany.

“Surprisingly, few people know what credit means at all, when it’s relevant and what impact it has on everyday decisions. With our lively international team of 33 people, the financial world will be revolutionized. We not only offer free credit checks and clarify your credit ratings, but also exciting financial management tools to optimize your finances.”

An Algorithm Saved My Life

The way Bonify assesses someone’s options is by calculating their electricity, gas and DSL usage, then the “savings calculator” allows users to find the lowest and most convenient fares to use instead. Elisa says this makes adjustments a lot easier, “especially in the field of loans, it’s exciting to finally get registered users matched with tailored credit options and individualized offers.”

Bonify’s long-term goal is to integrate all consumer products where credit plays a role (insurance, mobile phone contracts, etc.) so everyone can easily understand the best options available to them.

Rewards for You, Rewards for Us

Bonify is grateful for opportunities that help them in their fight for transparency, and award recognition is no exception. The team is well aware of other companies who've been growing in their respective markets and who believe they belong in that league as well. Elisa relays the positive attention cast on their team and how they feel.

“We were looking forward to the technology startup of the year for the German Stevie Silver Award and are still very proud! We feel great joy and pride for all employees, customers, investors and friends. Excellent customer response and confidence are a great confirmation from the positive feedback so far.”

Not Changing is the Biggest Risk

The increasing digitalization of industry and business models provide opportunities in the field of risk and credit ratings for companies and customers. Bonify is always looking for new ways to streamline credit check processes. Elisa shares their enthusiasm in the wake of their success.

“We want to and have helped many people learn more about the topic of credit and how to improve it. From numerous personal conversations in customer service, we get a lot of interesting cases and are always glad to help. A personal credit history of our former employee, Philipp Hommelsheim, was rejected as a BKA official with a good salary and positive payment history due to its poor credit rating from DriveNow.”

Protecting Your Data

The positive customer responses, the constant support of friends and investors and the motivation and enthusiasm of their employees are encouraging. However, customer information is their top priority and a major reason why the company has been growing at such a rapid rate. Elisa wants to highlight their focus on this important matter.

“Bonify is working hard to continue improving even further so that topics such as creditworthiness and financial optimization or borrowing are communicated openly and transparently. We focus on data protection. We are aware that your data is sensitive, which is never passed on to third parties without being asked.”

Since the user is already prequalified based on the individual credit and financial situation for loans, manual processes for banks are shortened and more accurate. Bonify acknowledges that not everyone is aware of their credit decisions. With a free credit check and their financial optimization tools, individuals can look forward to their credit scores improving with the right information and tools.

A meat lovers pizza with absolutely no calories? If it sounds just a little too good to be true, it is.

But that’s how the Stevie-winning nationwide chain Villa Restaurant Group playfully marketed its new product topped with pepperoni, sausage, ham and bacon, labeling it the “#AlternateFacts” pizza.

The name, of course, is a direct reference to the phrase famously dropped by Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. At the time, Conway was defending suggestions about the size of President Trump’s inauguration crowd.

Villa’s humorous take on the episode became a runaway success, garnering 85 news stories and raking in more than 230 million media impressions.

Offbeat Ideas that Work

Behind the restaurant’s cheeky campaign was BML Public Relations, a young New Jersey firm known for pulling out-of-the-box ideas to garner attention for clients.

It’s a company that once concocted the “The World’s Largest Mug of Hot Chocolate” in New York to draw awareness for the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council.

And when a competing fast food chain grabbed headlines by telling social media that a “hamburglar” was on the loose, it helped Wayback Burgers steal headlines by offering the villain a reward for giving himself up.

What made the #AlternateFacts campaign particularly novel was the client’s willingness to plug into one of the most highly-charged political climates in decades. That’s something a lot of companies have been hesitant to do, fearing blowback from their ideologically-diverse customers.

There are exceptions, but they’re relatively few and far between. For example, when ice cream maker Dippin’ Dots drew a number of slights from Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s on Twitter, the company offered to host an ice cream social at the White House.

BML’s CEO, Brian Lowe, believes the current environment provides a great publicity opportunity for corporate America, as long as they take a thoughtful approach.

“I think it is important for brands to be involved in conversations related to social and political issues, even if they are not taking a hard stance,” Lowe told NJBIZ, a New Jersey business publication. “There are a lot of eyeballs on the issues and, as marketers, our job is to put the brand in front of as many eyeballs as possible while being as careful as possible not to polarize our customer base.”

The marketing effort resulted in BML earning a Silver Stevie® Award for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Social Media Focused, which they received at the June 20 American Business Awards ceremony in New York City.

Plugging Into the Headlines

It’s no accident that one of the company’s most successful ideas came from the world of politics. Each day, Lowe and his mostly female team meet to talk about the stories that are grabbing headlines locally and around the country.

Then, they brainstorm how their clients can leverage those stories to grab some of the media spotlight for themselves. The firm tries to generate input from as many staffers as possible until they land on the most promising concept.

“The idea must be able to go around the room without making anyone feel like they are not on the same page,” Lowe told NJBIZ. “Then, when we have an idea that is strong, that we know will generate brand awareness and help our client develop core connections with its consumer, sometimes we have to go in and fight for the idea.”

The strategy is one that worked especially well for Villa Restaurant Group, which was able to ride a tidal wave of publicity because of its tongue-in-cheek product offering.

It was just as big a win for BML, which got plenty of attention of its own out of the campaign, not to mention the Stevie Award, its first major accolade as a company.

The 2018 American Business Awards will open for entries in October. Request the entry kit now and it will be emailed to you when it's availble. 

Bon Choix Couture is one of the leading costume shops in the United States, and increasingly, the world. So impressive is its roster of clients that many who see the list online stop short: Michael Jackson (including the iconic sequined military-style jacket and white glove); Tom Cruise; Rod Stewart; Kenny Rogers; Prince; Robert Downey, Jr.; Sheena Easton; Siegfried and Roy. Their client list is a who’s who of music, film, TV and show business in general.

In the 2017 awards year for which the Los Angeles-based company won The Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year – Apparel, Beauty & Fashion (small) in The American Business Awards and The International Business Awards, along came Disney Theme Parks with an invitation to become the official licensed costume house for Walt Disney World Wide. Dubai World Parks followed— then the cruise industry: Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America Cruise Lines and Disney Cruise Lines.

But here’s where the real story begins: You’d never know from the superstar clients and fancy Bon Choix dressing rooms that until CEO and Creative Director Tagui Veronica Manoyan took over in the year 2000, the company was about to go under. 

Controlled at the time by Manoyan’s mother-in-law and husband, Bon Choix was stuck in the wrong field at the wrong time: producing fancy clothing when the world was moving to blue jeans and sweats. Manoyan, then a stay-at-home mom, took instant and full control of the company. “What else was I supposed to do?” she asks matter-of-factly.

Call it “being hungry,” but within 24 hours, Manoyan was training under her mother-in-law and was quickly labeled a “natural.” Manoyan excelled at deadlines (all are a.s.a.p. in performing); at overseeing details (“I saw the costumes in my sleep”); at budgeting and finance (notably choosing to cut back and bank cash to reinvest); at technology (Manoyan was considered brilliant at mathematics and cybernetics); at managing others; hiring; and at doing what many consider the key to employee loyalty—doing anything that needs to be done, including driving the trucks each time the company moved locations— numerous times in a decade.

And it was Manoyan who chose to shift from fancy clothing to costumes and who manned the phones contacting representatives for the nation’s superstars. One by one, these artists sampled the costumes; and one by one they signed on and one by one they returned. The client return rate at Bon Choix was and is now 100%.   

As Manoyan also explains matter-of-factly, doing the best work is the best business ingredient. She opted to always create costumes that are unique (a must); comfortable (“they must behave”); and that “meet every challenge.” Take, for instance, the costumes that light up for Disney’s blockbuster 2016 "Paint The Night Parade" or its 2016 large-scale musical of the animated film “Frozen.”

Or Rod Stewart’s request, as Manoyan described it, for “a traditional-looking jacket that also works when he moves around and sweats a lot.” Or a similar request from rapper Chris Brown who “does cartwheels and crazy moves!” As always, Manoyan broke industry norms by removing all construction; by using multiple fabrics; by traveling the world to find the finest high-tech fabrics that mimic traditional ones; and by printing patterns on the jackets so that they look like the real thing while operating like the best of dancewear.  

Manoyan made another crucial business decision that runs counter to the industry: Do all work in-house. That meant purchasing the best technology (equipment and software) for embroidery, patterns and cutting in addition to offering hand-beading, custom stoning and hands-on 3D construction. The company is famous for its ability to reproduce costumes directly from original sketches. It is the only one in the business that, as of 2017, makes its own shoes in-house.

In 2016, Manoyan doubled the company staff and moved into a spectacular new 10,000-square-foot workspace in order to give her celebrity following what they craved: separate fitting rooms in addition to separate rooms for embroidery, fabric, sequinning and stitching.

Ask Manoyan the key to success and you’ll hear this: “I learn quickly!”

Indeed, not a day goes by even today when this powerhouse of a CEO isn’t learning something new; isn’t working past midnight to perfect it; isn’t traveling the globe for additional research; isn’t coming up with a new investment strategy for the future.

As Manoyan says, “Anything challenging and exciting I take on.”

Learn more about Bon Choix at www.bonchoixcouture.com.

Second Annual Awards Honoring World’s Best Workplaces Continues to Accept Nominations

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, announced today that the final entry deadline for the second annual competition has been extended to Wednesday, August 9. The Stevie Awards for Great Employers honors the world’s best companies to work for and the HR teams and professionals, HR achievements, new products and services and suppliers that help to create and drive great workplaces.

“We’ve received so many requests for individual deadline extensions that we’ve decided to extend the deadline for everyone,” said Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. The original final deadline was July 19. Gallagher emphasizes that no additional late fees will be charged for entries submitted through August 9, and late entries will not be penalized in the judging process. All organizations now have three more weeks to prepare and submit their entries.

All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—may submit nominations to the Stevie Awards for Great Employers. The 2017 awards will honor achievements since the beginning of 2016. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/HR.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Stevie Award winners in the 35 Employer of the Year categories will be determined by a unique blending of the ratings of professionals and the votes of the general public.

The Stevie Awards for Great Employers will recognize achievement in many facets of the workplace. Categories include:

• Employer of the Year
• HR Achievements
• HR Individual Awards
• HR Team Categories
• Solution Provider Awards
• More than 50 New Product & Service Categories

Professionals on three international juries will determine the Stevie Award winners. Finalists will be announced on August 16. Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced at a gala event in New York City on September 22.

Capturing moments through the art of photography can be powerful when done right. C.Mae Design is an eight person photography team based out of Wisconsin who believes photography boils down to light, laughter, trust, and the power of capturing the connection between individuals. Their business has doubled in sales every year since 2013, and they are delighted to have captured over 437,000 smiles since C.Mae Design’s opening.  In the 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service C.Mae won the Bronze Stevie Award for Sales Turnaround.

Keeping Good Company

The company likes to accept clients who cherish other people in their lives, and customers who want to capture the beauty in real moments. Cassandra Spiegelhoff, owner of C.Mae Design describes their ideal customer.

“The C.Mae Design client is someone who cherishes the people in their lives. Someone who finds beauty in real moments that include tears of joy, warm hugs, and loud laughter.”

With their team of 8 photographers and 2 office assistants, many of their photographers do double duty as editors, teachers and mentors. Coming into their 5th year of business, Cassandra expresses their excitement about celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary with 500 couples.

“We are obsessed with finding and creating beautiful light and turning sweet moments into stunning imagery”

Chasing Moments

Photography is always changing. The editing styles, posing styles, new innovative techniques, and the evolving technology always makes for improvement. C.Mae Design staff enjoy doing what they love and are always learning how to service their clients better.

“At our sessions, you will find us playing music, laughing, lifting things, and maybe even climbing trees or jumping into water for the perfect shot.” Cassandra relayed, “Each session really is a new adventure with new friends and we can’t wait for you to be part of the experience.”

As passionate storytellers and don’t-care-who’s-watching dancers, what they ask of you is to fully, authentically, and awkwardly just be yourself. This is where the magic is. At C.Mae Design, they focus heavily on capturing you. THE REAL YOU. The real, funny, gorgeous you.

Awards Capture Moments Too

Like photos, awards can signify a moment in time when your hard work was cherished by your peers. Cassandra recalls the time their supervisor had recommended them to apply to the Stevie Awards, and then they won.

“We are so excited to show it off! The acknowledgment of our organization and staff is wonderful and uplifting!!”

Since then, they’ve also been awarded Best Of Weddings on The Knot in 2016 and Couples' Choice Awards from Wedding Wire in both 2016 and 2017.

“We simply believe in what we do and enjoy it! We are motivated by spreading the love! The truth is that life is hard and any time you can devote to appreciate the people in your life is beautiful. Our photography sessions highlight the love shared between individuals and their stories. What is more beautiful than that?” Cassandra concluded, “Always do your best! The golden rule of ‘treat others how you would like to be treated’ is great. We like using the platinum rule of ‘treat others the way they want to be treated.’"

Getting new ideas to market is one of the hardest tasks in the innovation process, especially for a completely new idea for a product or service. Failure to launch can stem from a lack of production capacity to an inability to create a demand for the product and everything in between. That’s where gemaker comes in.

gemaker helps Australia’s inventors take their ideas to the world, providing services in research-industry engagement and commercialization to bridge the gap between origination and growth. gemaker was named the winner of three Silver Stevie Awards in the 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for Innovative Management in Business Product & Service Industries, Excellence in Innovation in Business Product & Service Industries, and Innovation in Business-to-Business Services.

A Benefit for All

Australian research and innovation has potential for huge positive impact in the real world, if innovators can just connect to the right scientific and technical experts. Natalie Chapman, co-founder and Managing Director of gemaker, is a commercialization and marketing expert with more than 15 years of experience turning innovative ideas and technologies into thriving businesses. She comments on Australia’s role in business development.

“Australia is transitioning to greater professionalism in technology transfer. There's a change occurring in attitudes and approaches in research-industry engagement which we're trying to foster.”

She goes on to say that empowering researchers with skills and resources to proactively engage industries with collaborative innovation solves diverse social and environmental problems that boosts the economy and ultimately benefits all Australians.

How They Work

gemaker’s success speaks volumes about how they work and why it’s so effective. Although their research and technology commercialization consultancy company consists of a small core staff, their flexible auxiliary team of about 20 regular contractors understands perseverance, passion and a great team works best when success is measured by the work you do, and not just the time spent doing it.

“gemaker is proudly built around a sustainable, flexible and progressive employment model that is project-based. This means paying people for the work they do, rather than paying them for being in the office for a set period of time.”

This model creates opportunity to tap the skills and expertise of a range of intelligent, qualified and experienced people who do not want rigid jobs, but still seek to make valuable contributions through meaningful careers.

The World is Noticing

There’s often a divide in the understanding and culture between different research organizations, such as universities and commercial companies. Closing the research-industry gap is a win for both sides that also benefits society in general. One way of doing this is with international attention that helps promote what gemaker is doing worldwide. Natalie is particularly proud of the Stevie for Innovation in Business-to-Business Services award they received for their Industry Engagement Training for Researchers.

“The award recognizes the importance and quality of the work we do to help researchers develop effective strategies to form long-term, productive and profitable partnerships with commercial companies.”

Whether it’s helping businesses achieve their optimal commercialization outcome, a spin-off from a research organization, growing sales of products or services, licensing agreements, or the sale of your business, gemaker is helping companies grow and evolve into new markets to reach new heights of success

Thanks to growing charter school and homeschooling movements in the U.S., parents have more options than ever when it comes to their children’s education. Selecting the right school for one’s child ‒ and helping them succeed in that environment ‒ has become more of a process than it was in the past.

Stevie Award-winning Founder / Director of New Heights Educational Group, Pamela Clark, experienced this first-hand when she was deciding where to enroll her young children. Clark home-schooled her children before finding the right charter school for them.

At the local charter school, Clark took on leadership and mentoring roles. Despite her affinity for these independently-controlled schools, she noticed that certain students were falling behind. Those with learning and emotional difficulties, like autism and ADHD, had a particularly tough time getting through the curriculum.

What those students needed, she thought, was a place they could go for additional support. And so, in 2006, New Heights Educational Group was born.

Filling in the Educational Gaps

The organization became a single destination where families could get help deciding where to educate their children, improve their literacy skills and find a library of reading materials for dealing with challenges.

At its core, New Heights Educational Group is a one-on-one tutoring program that focuses in on areas where the student needs extra attention. Teachers and students are required to meet three hours a week over a three-day period.

“We found that fill-in-the-gap type tutoring is necessary in order to reach students that have been left behind in traditional settings,” Clark says.

This focused approach has yielded dramatic results, she notes. Several students who were on the verge of dropping out of high school before they received tutoring from NHEG have now graduated. One student who suffered from seizures at a young age was able to jump three grade levels in science and four grade levels in math in a little over a year.

Parents with children facing learning disabilities found an environment where they could explore new strategies and share their experiences with others.

“In addition to successful, child-focused learning techniques, families are able to cope with their children’s struggles better because of increased social support,” she says.

If anyone could empathize with someone struggling because of a lack of outside help, it was Clark. Neither her father nor her two brothers ever graduated from high school and her mom wasn’t always there to help with her studies. She had also faced numerous health ailments throughout her life, in large part from  being malnourished as a child.

Thanks to New Heights, she’s making sure other students don’t have to deal with those same hardships. The organization recently won the Silver Stevie in The American Business Awards for Organization of the Year in the Small Nonprofit or Government category, which was awarded during a June 20 gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

“This is such an honor,” Clark said afterward. “Every day our team of 81 volunteers work to promote our work in bettering education for all families, regardless of school choice, background or beliefs.”

Continuing to Grow

Eleven years after starting the venture, Clark continues to grow New Heights. It currently draws students from several states, thanks in part to its flourishing online solutions.

With help from Kathryn Stout, author of Natural Speller, the organization has created a free online version of the book for students learning to read and spell. Clark and her team also developed a free financial literacy course to help youths make wiser decisions with their money.

The journey into the digital realm has proven to be a fruitful one. New Heights garnered a second Silver Stevie this year in the New Product or Service of the Year category for its PK-12 Personalized Learning Solution.

In addition to helping students advance in school, Clark has also positioned the organization as a leading voice in educational strategies. On top of the monthly educational magazine it recently launched, New Heights started an Internet radio program that now boasts more than 24,000 listeners a year.

Clark and company published a book entitled One Nonprofit’s Journey to Success in 2015 and released a second, Unraveling Reading, late last year.

Even as she faces ongoing health issues, Clark continues to serve as the engine for the program. She oversees the dozens of volunteers who provide tutoring through New Heights, offers training to teachers and continually researches new strategies for helping students reach their potential.

“Educational changes are slow moving and very little improvements are ever made,” says Clark. “So the work that nonprofits do are very important and normally don't receive the attention they deserve.”