Amala receives the NEASC 1885 Award for Exemplary Service to Education

Amala has been awarded New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)’s 1885 Award for Exemplary Service to Education. A recognition of exceptional service and dedication to the field of education, the award is named after the year that NEASC was founded. 

Amala was chosen by NEASC’s Leadership Team and Board of Trustees as the recipient of this year’s award for our commitment to public service, significant and transformative contributions to educational communities, and our impact on creating a better future for all learners.

The award comes in the same year as Amala’s accreditation by NEASC, jointly with CIS (Council of International Schools). In February 2024, Amala became the first organisation working in a refugee context to be awarded this global recognition, benchmarking the quality of an Amala education with that of international schools around the world and marking a significant milestone for Amala and a stride forward for global refugee education.

Polly Akhurst, Amala Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director at Amala accepted the award at a ceremony in Boston on Thursday 21 November, as part of the 2024 NEASC Leadership Conference. Polly said of the award:

“We are honoured and humbled to receive this award, which is testament to Amala’s enduring partnership with NEASC. We extend our sincere gratitude to the NEASC team and Board for their unwavering support on our accreditation journey and for helping us ensure that refugee youth have access to a truly transformative educational experience.”

Trillium Hibbeln, Director for Accreditation and School Improvement at NEASC’s Commission on International Education said:

“We at NEASC are inspired by Amala’s commitment to ensuring access to quality education for those around the world who have historically lacked those opportunities; and their innovation to build the systems, structures, and programs to support high-quality learning for refugee youth.”

Previous recipients of the NEASC 1885 award include Dr. Christine L. Brown, a Regional Education Officer with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools in 2023, and Kam Chohan, Executive Director at the Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS) in 2022.

Left: Polly, alongside Amala’s Director of Education Programmes Lizzie Bray presenting to the NEASC Board of Trustees and right: Amala Global Secondary Diploma alumnus Mohammad Alammar (centre) and Lizzie Bray (right), representing Amala at the NEASC Conference in Boston