The Exceptional Contribution to Relocation category attracted high-calibre entrants from around the world, all of whom had notched up outstanding achievements in their diverse fields.One entrant stood out from a strong shortlist. In the roles she has held at international expatriate support organisation FOCUS, Nancy Dickinson, currently its deputy executive director, has been unstinting in her support of, and advocacy for, relocating families.Said the awards judges, “Nancy’s many years of devoted service within the industry, reflected in the number of assignees and clients that she has personally supported, are widely recognised.“Supporting spouses and their families is well known to be a difficult job, and the need to get this right is highlighted in research that shows very clearly that spouses and families can make or break assignment success.“Nancy has made a huge effort to publicise the importance of this element of the relocation process, ensuring wider spousal awareness at individual, organisational and embassy level.”FOCUS has evolved from a source of information for expats into a community, winning, in 2010/11, Relocate’s first award for Excellence in Employee & Family Support. In her nine years with the organisation, Nancy has played a key part in its development.“She has clearly made a huge difference to the success of FOCUS by raising engagement with its services, to the benefit of relocating individuals, spouses, families and employing organisations,” said the judges.“Nancy has established links with authors, career coaches and other professionals in order to build networks of value to relocating families, and speaks regularly at conferences and other venues to raise the profile of the issues that families face on relocation.”

Notable successes

Nancy Dickinson’s previous roles at FOCUS – director of marketing and director of events and seminars – have enabled her to engage with all FOCUS’s stakeholders.Praising her deputy’s enthusiasm, creativity and dedication, executive director Alessandra Gnudi says, “Nancy is as at ease speaking to a marketing sponsor about how to improve exposure to the expat community as she is talking to assignees and their families about their personal concerns.“This insight, coupled with her excellent communication skills, enables her to adapt and tailor the services that FOCUS offers. Her forward-thinking and strategic mindset allows us to provide an exceptional service, and one that complements that provided by global mobility and relocation companies.”Nancy’s successes have included expanding FOCUS’s bi-monthly magazine, increasing by 40 per cent the number of events offered, improving communication with members, and managing a successful career development programme for partners, which has seen an average of 70 per cent of participants find employment in their chosen field and an increase of almost 190 per cent in member engagement.Never one to rest on her laurels, Nancy continually formulates new ways of moving FOCUS forward, says Alessandra Gnudi. These range from improving engagement and creating new seminars to developing a new social media strategy.Speaking at the Gala Awards Dinner, Nancy Dickinson said, “I feel incredibly honoured to have won this award, and thrilled – if not a bit surprised – to be joining the very talented pool of individuals who have won in previous years.“Relocate has done so much to raise the profile of relocation while celebrating creativity and innovation within the industry; therefore, to be recognised in this tenth-anniversary year means a great deal to me.”

Following this year's innovation-themed gala dinner, the Relocate team is already hard at work to ensure we build on the success of the Relocate Awards 2017 and make next year’s even bigger and better.

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Watch the video highlights of the Gala Dinner and Awards presentation here

^{© 2017. This article first appeared in the Summer 2017 edition of Relocate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.}