The second annual Premier Agency Business Awards (PABA) were presented in a lavish ceremony at Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada last month, honouring business excellence among education agencies.
Pioneered by Aly Rajab, President and CEO of the evening’s Innovator Sponsor, Canadian English language school CLLC, the awards received secondary sponsorship from education giant Pearson this year for the first time.
“This has been an achievement 19 years in the making, due to the dedication, strength and responsibility of our staff”
“My vision for the PABAs has always been to shine a spotlight on those agencies who work from a foundation of leadership, innovation and integrity,” Rajab said. “This year’s 19 finalists represent such agencies and I am proud to highlight their work.”
The Agency of the Year gold award went to Ecuadorian agency Xplorer.
“This has been an achievement 19 years in the making, in large part due to the dedication, strength and responsibility of our staff, past and present,” Xplorer’s General Manager, Angy Vinueza de Olsson, said.
A Jordanian agency, Yes Atlas, was named New Agency of the Year, a category only open to agencies between two and five years old, and the Brazilian English Experience Intercambios took home the top prize for Small Agency of the Year, for agencies with fewer than ten consultants.
Haitam Giat, Sales and Marketing Director at Yes Atlas, told The PIE News that the win was a “yes” vote for the agency’s business strategy.
“From day one, we have announced to our educator partners that we are the New agency in the Middle East,” he said.
Gold winners in each category were awarded 12 weeks’ CLLC tuition, while silver and bronze winners received 8 and 4 weeks respectively.
“We are at the moment seeking a well deserved participant that can’t afford the programme in order to grant the scholarship,” Vinueza told The PIE News. “We know that by doing this we will be helping open the doors to a wonderful experience in Canada.”
Entries were self-submitted before being judged by an independent panel of four from the public sector, law, business and finance.
“Winners were chosen because of their excellence in five areas; Ethics, Integrity, Strategy, Innovation and Leadership,” CLLC’s Marketing Director, Stefan Ferron, told The PIE News. “It’s these five characteristics that place the PABA winners in a class of their own.”
Full list of winners:
New Agency of the Year
Gold – Yes Atlas (Jordan)
Silver – Educan International (Venezuela)
Bronze – Canada Point (Russia)
Small Agency of the Year
Gold – English Experience Intercambios (Brazil)
Silver – Education Business Links (Albania)
Bronze – Alas Tour (Kazakhstan)
Agency of the Year
Gold – Xplorer Ecuador (Ecuador)
Silver – 2Be Study (Brazil)
Bronze – ICEA (Ukraine)