Social Enterprise UK awards 2024: International Impact winner

Recognising its contribution to the Global Parenting Initiative led by Oxford University, the award comes just after trials in Tanzania showed IDEMS’ ecosystem enabled equivalent social impact digitally compared to in-person programmes but at a fraction of traditional costs. This brings life-saving, life-changing development within reach for millions of families in the global south. 

A long-term Impact Innovation Collaboratory

IDEMS International has been named the winner of the 2024 UK Social Enterprise International Impact Award, celebrating its exceptional contributions to global development.

The award, which honours UK-based social enterprises achieving significant international impact, recognises IDEMS’ innovative work with the Global Parenting Initiative (GPI) and Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH). Through these projects, IDEMS has collaborated with global teams and partners to deliver transformative, scalable solutions in parenting support and child well-being.

This achievement specifically referenced the work on ParentApp for Teens and the collaboration with Prof Lucie Cluver (Professor of Child and Family Social Work, University of Oxford), Dr Joyce Wamoyi (Senior Social and Behavioural Researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mwanza, Tanzania), Ms Laetitia Christine (Technical Implementation and Research Methods Specialist, INNODEMS), and many others. Under Prof Jamie Lachman’s GPI leadership as Principal Investigator, the Innovate ‘brick’, which IDEMS led, has been the source of inspiration for how a social enterprise can build tech differently to serve society.

“Finding ourselves reimagining tech as a social service, to serve partners needs, is often overwhelming. But, through models of social entrepreneurship, we believe we are finding a path to building new forms of tech in service of society. Receiving recognition for our entrepreneurship is such a boost to our confidence that our ideas are valued not just by our partners and end users but also our peers looking to build socially impactful businesses,” says Dr David Stern (Director and Mathematical Scientist, IDEMS).

The recognition reaffirms IDEMS’ role as a leader in social innovation and its dedication to addressing critical challenges through international collaboration and social entrepreneurship.