Chichi Ezeh won Excellence in Social Innovation Award

Chichi Ezeh was recognized at the Impact Innovation Summit & Excellence Awards 2025 with the Excellence in Social Innovation Award. The honor highlights her years of work improving safeguarding systems and creating fairer access to services for groups that were often excluded from support.

Safeguarding and Social Reform

Much of Chichi’s career has been spent protecting children and driving change in public services. As an Independent Reviewing Officer and Child Protection Chair, she influenced national policy and helped keep systems aligned with child protection standards.

At local authority level, she designed the Exit Interview Framework for children in care. It gave young people a way to share their experiences and made sure their views were part of how care services were planned and delivered. Through her safeguarding consultancy and social innovation initiatives, Chichi Ezeh delivers expert services in child protection, safeguarding audits, training, and policy development. Working with local authorities, NGOs, and international partners, she helps organisations strengthen their safeguarding frameworks, embed equality, and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and communities. Chichi also develops participatory tools, such as youth-led questionnaires and exit interviews, that give young people a voice in shaping services. Her approach blends legal expertise, cultural competence, and strategic leadership to create sustainable, impactful change. She collaborates globally to build safer systems and empower communities to thrive.

She also created the Street Champions initiative, giving residents in underrepresented areas, a voice in council priorities and opening the door for them to join local decision-making. She later led reforms that improved access to housing and welfare support for minority groups who had long been left out of these services.

Impact Across Levels

The effect of Chichi’s work can be seen in the way policies have been adopted, in the rise of community participation, and in better outcomes for children and families. Local authorities have taken up her recommendations during service reviews. Quality audits show stronger inclusion, and reports from young people confirm that their views are now shaping decisions that affect them.

Chichi has also worked on difficult family law and immigration cases, preparing assessments that influenced court decisions. By moving between law, community work, and professional roles, she has helped turn policy into practice in ways that better meet people’s needs.

Words of Gratitude

Reflecting on the award, Chichi said:

“This recognition strengthens my ability to push for global inclusion and safeguarding innovation. It opens doors to share best practice across countries, to collaborate with governments and NGOs, and to support emerging leaders in equality-driven work. For me, this award is encouragement to ensure that vulnerable voices are never overlooked.”

For the future, Chichi wants to develop safeguarding systems that can be applied in real settings, take account of cultural differences, and adjust to the needs of different regions.