Hands Up Mallee Recognised as Runner-Up for Social Impact at the 2025 SIMNA Awards

3 Dec

Hands Up Mallee has proudly earned runner-up recognition in the Excellence in Social Impact Measurement category at the prestigious 2025 SIMNA Awards, held on Friday, 28 November. These awards celebrate Australia’s leading champions in measuring and demonstrating social impact. The SIMNA Awards held annually by Social Impact Measurement Network Australia recognise initiatives that not only track change effectively but also share clear evidence of how their work improves lives and strengthens communities. The entries include not-for-profits, social enterprises, funders, B Corps, corporates, and government agencies.

The Excellence in Social Impact Measurement Award acknowledges initiatives that lead by example through strong frameworks, deep stakeholder engagement, and transparent sharing of results. Hands Up Mallee was nominated alongside other notable organisations, including For-Purpose Evaluations, Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, Global Sisters, Redkite, and Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Following a rigorous assessment process, the judges commended Hands Up Mallee for its exceptional leadership in place-based systems change, supported by a sophisticated Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL framework) and strong community and Aboriginal governance. The approach stood out for its transparency, responsiveness, and influence on partners and local investment decisions, clearly aligning with the Principles of Social Value.

Jane McCracken, Executive Officer at Hands Up Mallee, said: “Being named runner-up in this category is a big achievement for Hands Up Mallee. The Excellence Award attracts some of the most respected organisations in Australia. This recognition reinforces that our commitment to evidence-based action and community-led solutions is on par with national leaders in social impact measurement.”

“We thank the Clear Horizon for their ongoing support and guidance in building our measurement, evaluation and learning frameworks, SIMNA judges for their encouraging feedback and the award nominees and winners,” Jane added.

Fiona Merlin, Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL Coordinator) at Hands Up Mallee added, “We commit to evaluating every part of our work, particularly our impact projects, and enabling communities to participate in evaluation and learning.”

Hands Up Mallee previously won the Outstanding Collaboration in Social Impact Measurement Award in 2022 for its co-designed Measurement, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework with Clear Horizon.

To learn more about the awards, visit SIMNA Awards – SIMNA