This award recognises the outstanding achievements of an emerging Alumni Relations professional who has made a significant impact early in their career while demonstrating CASE's values, including innovation, professional excellence and collaboration.
The 2026 CASE Europe Awards will be presented at the CASE Europe Annual Conference (10–12 November in Edinburgh, UK). All award recipients will receive complimentary registration to attend the full conference.
Eligibility
CASE celebrates the leadership, innovation, and impact of professionals from different lived experiences. As in all its initiatives, CASE values inclusivity, and therefore, the Individual Achievement Awards actively seek the broadest possible set of nominations from institutions and individuals across the globe.
To be considered for this award, nominees must meet the following qualifications:
- Work in a CASE member institution in any European or African country.
- Have worked in alumni relations roles for less than five years.
- Current members of the CASE Regional Councils are not eligible for nomination.
- Self-nominations will not be accepted.
Nomination details
When to enter
Nominations are open from 1 May to 30 June 2026.
How to enter
All nomination information and materials should be submitted online by someone at a CASE member institution or Educational Partner. Self-nominations will not be accepted.
The nominator will be asked to submit:
- Responses to three prompts:
- Describe how the nominee has demonstrated CASE's values, such as professional excellence, integrity, respect, boldness, agility, collaboration, inclusivity, and embracing diversity, through their work.
- Describe creative and/or innovative approaches the nominee has taken to:
- build their institution’s alumni community
- and/or contribute towards their institution's strategic priorities.
- Share any data, metrics or supporting quotations to demonstrate the impact the nominee has made.
- Nominee's resume, CV, biography, or a link to similar information, such as their LinkedIn profile.
Contact us
You can reach the CASE Awards team at [email protected]. Please include in your correspondence the name of the award.
2025 Recipient
Jovana Panić
Through strategic innovation and community-building, Jovana has revitalised ESMT’s alumni network into a dynamic, inclusive, and mission-driven community. Her leadership has fostered record engagement, from the launch of the MentorMap programme to expanded alumni participation worldwide. Jovana developed a new value proposition for ESMT's alumni network, focusing on rebuilding after the challenging times of the pandemic. As a result of expanding their offer, ESMT has seen an increase in event attendance, launched a mentoring programme, improved their database, launched the Alumni Employment Report, and restructured their Alumni Council.
Jovana was the recipient of the 2025 CASE Europe Emerging Alumni Relations Professional Award.
2024 Recipient
Matteo Lai
In his nomination, Matteo's manager praised him as someone who “enhances the overall reputation of the University”. His nomination was supported by testimony from mentees and stakeholders, who commented on Matteo always showing kindness, a willingness to help others and his natural networking abilities.